Papillilabium
Papillilabium beckleri, commonly known as the imp orchid, is the only species in the genus Papillilabium from the orchid family, Orchidaceae. It is a small, epiphytic orchid with many thin roots, between two and six linear leaves and up to eight pale green or brownish flowers. The flowers are fragrant, produce nectar and have a warty labellum. It grows on shrubs and trees in humid places and near streams and is found between south-east Queensland and the Sydney region in New [South Wales].Description
Papillilabium beckleri is an epiphytic herb with many thin, wiry roots, a single shoot and stems long. Each stem has between two and six linear to lance-shaped, leaves long and wide, often with pink or purple spots. Up to eight pale green or brownish flowers long and wide, sometimes with purple markings, are borne on flowering stems long. The sepals and petals spread widely apart from each other, the sepals about long and wide, the petals slightly narrower. The labellum is white, green or yellowish, sometimes with purple markings, about long, wide with three lobes. The side lobes are long and narrow and the middle lobe is warty with a spur long. Flowering occurs from September to October.Taxonomy and naming
The imp orchid was first formally described in 1873 by George Bentham from an unpublished description by Ferdinand [von Mueller]. Bentham gave it the name Cleisostoma beckleri and published the description in Flora Australiensis from a specimen collected by Hermann Beckler near the Clarence [River |Clarence River]. In 1967, Alick Dockrill changed the name to Papillilabium beckleri. The name Papillilabium is derived from the Latin words papilla meaning "nipple", "teat"or "bud" and labium meaning "lip". The specific epithet honours the collector of the type specimen.Distribution and habitat
Papillilabium beckleri grows on shrubs and trees in humid places and near streams and is found between Mapleton in Queensland and the Royal [National Park] in New South Wales.