Oberonia flavescens

Oberonia flavescens, commonly known as the northern green fairy orchid,[2] is a plant in the orchid family and is a clump-forming epiphyte or lithophyte. It has between four and six leaves in a fan-like arrangement on each shoot and a large number of whitish to yellowish flowers arranged in whorls of between six and eight around the flowering stem. It is endemic to Queensland.

Northern green fairy orchid
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Plantae
(unranked):
Angiosperms
(unranked):
Monocots
Order:
Asparagales
Family:
Orchidaceae
Subfamily:
Epidendroideae
Genus:
Oberonia
Species:
O. flavescens
Binomial name
Oberonia flavescens

Description

Oberonia flavescens is an epiphytic or lithophytic herb that forms large clumps. Each shoot has between four and six fleshy, sword-shaped, green to reddish leaves 80–150 mm (3.1–5.9 in) long and 15–20 mm (0.59–0.79 in) wide with their bases overlapping. A large number of whitish or yellowish, non-resupinate flowers about 2.3 mm (0.091 in) long and 1.5 mm (0.059 in) wide are arranged in whorls of between six and eight on an arching flowering stem 100–200 mm (3.9–7.9 in) long. The sepals and petals are egg-shaped, about 1.2 mm (0.047 in) long and turned back towards the ovary. The labellum is about 1.5 mm (0.059 in) long with three fringed lobes. Flowering occurs between February and July.[2][3][4]

Taxonomy and naming

Oberonia flavescens was first formally described in 2006 by David Jones and Mark Clements who published the description in Australian Orchid Research. The type specimen was grown in the Australian National Botanic Gardens from a plant collected in the McIlwraith Range.[5] The specific epithet (flavescens) is derived from the Latin word flavus meaning "golden-yellow" or "yellow"[6]:872 with the suffix -escens meaning "beginning of" or "becoming".[6]:308

Distribution and habitat

The northern green fairy orchid usually grows on trees and rocks in rainforest, sometimes in other humid, sheltered places such as mangroves. It is found between the Iron and Clarke Ranges in Queensland.[2][3][4]

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References
  1. "Oberonia flavescens". World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (WCSP). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
  2. Jones, David L. (2006). A complete guide to native orchids of Australia including the island territories. Frenchs Forest, N.S.W.: New Holland. p. 470. ISBN 1877069124.
  3. "Oberonia flavescens". Trin keys: Australian Tropical Rainforest Orchids. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
  4. Jones, David L.; Clements, Mark A. (2006). "Fourteen new taxa of Orchidaceae from Northern and Eastern Australia and two new combinations from new Guinea". Australian Orchid Research. 5 (1): 10–11.
  5. "Oberonia flavescens". APNI. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
  6. Brown, Roland Wilbur (1956). The Composition of Scientific Words. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press.
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