New Taxa Austral. Orchid. (Austral. Orchid Res. 2) 80 (1991) APNI
Taxonomic status:Accepted
Occurrence status:Present
Establishment means:Native
Threat status:EPBC: vulnerable (VU); Victoria: vulnerable (v)
Flowering stem slender, 10–80 cm tall. Leaf-blade to 50 cm long, 4–8 mm diam. at base, purplish. Flowers 10–50, white with greenish or red markings, fragrant, in a dense, narrow spike 6–20 cm long; ovary obovoid, 4–6 mm long, swollen; sepals 6–8 mm long, greenish and red-brown, dorsal sepal thick-textured, deflexed, linear-ovate, lateral sepals free, linear-oblong, divergent, suberect, distal margins involute, apex obtuse; petals 6–8 mm long, spathulate or oblong-spathulate, white, obtuse with crenulate margins, often with reddish basal stripe. Labellum 7–10 mm long, white, crystalline, bent at about 90 deg. near the middle, proximal half erect, margins intensely folded and crisped-crenulate; callus yellowish, thin-textured, channelled, ending just past the bend, basal swelling prominent, pyramidal. Column appendages falcate, to 3 mm long, truncate. Flowers Oct.–Dec.
EGL, GipP, Glep, OtP, Strz, VVP, WaP. Also SA. Grows in coastal heath and sandhills. Flowers Aug.-Nov. Localised across southern Victoria in coastal heathland and near-coastal heathy forest on sandy soils.
Flowers freely after fire or similar disturbance.
Prasophyllum spicatum is characterized by its dense, narrow-cylindric spike of flowers with a very erect distal part of labellum and broad white petals. Occasionally occurring with P. odoratum sens. lat., but no intermediates have been reported.
| Bioregion | Occurrence status | Establishment means | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Glenelg Plain | present | native | |
| Victorian Volcanic Plain | present | native | |
| Gippsland Plain | present | native | |
| Otway Plain | present | native | |
| Warrnambool Plain | present | native | |
| East Gippsland Lowlands | present | native | |
| Strzelecki Ranges | present | native |
| State |
|---|
| South Australia |
| New South Wales |
| Victoria |
| Tasmania |