About
The thin feather orchid is a small epiphyte of upland rainforest in tropical north Queensland. Slender pseudobulbs carry one or two leathery leaves and a few greenish-yellow flowers that age to apricot.
Field notes
Morphology
Very thin pseudobulbs 5–30 cm long bear one or two leathery leaves 2–6.5 cm long. One or two short flowering stems hold up to six greenish-yellow flowers that turn apricot; the lip is cream at first, later apricot with purplish stripes.
Distribution & habitat
In or near rainforest at 760–1,500 m in isolated parts of tropical north Queensland, Australia.
Ecology
Grows on trees and shrubs, favouring Callitris macleayana and Austromyrtus species.
History & etymology
Described in 1989 by Bruce Gray and David Jones from a specimen collected near Nitchigar Creek, close to Tully Falls.
Conservation
Listed as vulnerable in Australia under the EPBC Act 1999. Some populations are in national parks, but land clearing, altered fire regimes and illegal collecting threaten it.
Habitat
- Altitude
- Not recorded
- Altitude class
- —
- Native to
- Australia
Cultivation
- Difficulty
- Not recorded
Text adapted from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
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