Diuris picta
Diuris picta, commonly called the granite bee orchid or granite donkey orchid, is a species of orchid which is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It has between three and five leaves at its base and up to eight creamy-white to yellow flowers with brownish purple markings. It grows on granite outcrops between Menzies and Lake King.
Description
Diuris picta is a tuberous, perennial herb with between three and five leaves at its base, each leaf long and wide. Up to eight creamy-white to yellow flowers with brownish purple markings, long and wide are borne on a flowering stem tall. The dorsal sepal curves upwards, long and wide. The lateral sepals are long, wide and turned downwards. The petals are more or less erect or turned backwards, spread widely apart from each other, long and wide on a dark green stalk long. The labellum is long and has three lobes. The centre lobe is broadly egg-shaped, long and wide and the side lobes are long and wide. There are two parallel callus ridges long near the mid-line of the base of the labellum. Flowering occurs in September and October.
Taxonomy and naming
Diuris picta was first formally described in 1853 by James Drummond and the description was published in Hooker's Journal of Botany and Kew Garden Miscellany. The specific epithet is a Latin word meaning "coloured" or "painted".
Distribution and habitat
The granite bee orchid grows between Menzies and Lake King in the Avon Wheatbelt, Coolgardie, Mallee and Yalgoo biogeographic regions.
Conservation
Diuris picta is classified as "not threatened" by the Western Australian Government Department of Parks and Wildlife.