Diuris tinkeri
Diuris tinkeri, commonly known as Arrowsmith donkey orchid, is a species of orchid that is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It has two or three linear to lance-shaped leaves and up to seven yellow flowers suffused with reddish-purple to purple.
Description
Diuris tinkeri is a tuberous, perennial herb with two or three linear to lance-shaped leaves long and wide. Up to seven yellow flowers suffused with reddish-purple to purple, long and wide are borne on a flowering stem tall. The dorsal sepal is egg-shaped, long and wide, the lateral sepals narrowly oblong and crossed, long and wide. The petal blades are broadly elliptic, long and wide on a reddish-brown stalk long. The labellum is long with three lobes - the middle lobe wedge-shaped, long and wide, the side lobes spread widely apart and oblong, long and wide. There is a single smooth, yellow callus ridge long, along the mid-line of the labellum. Flowering occurs from mid-August to early October.
Taxonomy and naming
Diuris tinkeri was first formally described in 2013 by David Jones and Christopher J. French in Australian Orchid Review, from a specimen collected in the Western Flora Caravan Park near Eneabba in 1997. The specific epithet honours Allan Tinker, who recognised the distinctiveness of the species.
Arrowsmith donkey orchid grows in woodland, shrubland and kwongan in near-coastal areas, from near Geraldton to near Yanchep in the Geraldton Sandplains, Jarrah Forest and Swan Coastal Plain bioregions of south-western Western Australia.
Diuris tinkeri is listed as "not threatened" by the Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.