Genoplesium ostrinum
Genoplesium ostrinum, commonly known as the purple midge orchid, is a species of small terrestrial orchid that is endemic to New [South Wales]. It has a single thin leaf and up to ten dark purple flowers with darker stripes and a hairy labellum which vibrates in the slightest breeze.Description
Genoplesium fimbriatum is a terrestrial, perennial, deciduous, herb with an underground tuber and a single thin leaf long with the free part long. Between three and ten dark purple flowers are crowded along a flowering stem long and much taller than the leaf. The flowers are about long, wide and as with others in the genus, are inverted so that the labellum is above the column rather than below it. The dorsal sepal is long, wide with darker stripes, a pointed tip and hairy edges. The lateral sepals are long, wide with a humped base and spread widely apart from each other. The petals are long, wide and striped with hairy edges. The labellum is about long, wide with its tip curled upwards and long hairs on its edge. The labellum quivers in the slightest breeze. Flowering occurs between February and April.Taxonomy and naming
Genoplesium ostrinum was first formally described in 2001 by David Jones and the description was published in The Orchadian. In 2002, Jones and Mark Clements changed the name to Corunastylis ostrina but the change is not accepted by the Australian [Plant Census]. The specific epithet is a Latin word meaning "purple".Distribution and habitat
The purple midge orchid grows with shrubs or grasses in woodland between Tallong, [New South Wales|Tallong] and Braidwood.