Gastrodia sesamoides
R.Br.Slender to moderately robust herb. Stem apex drooping in bud, straightening at anthesis, dark brown, 20–60 cm high. Flowers 4–25, erect at first, then drooping, bell-shaped, 15–20 mm long (excluding ovary), light grey-brown, white towards apices, fragrant, exterior surface often very rough; subtending bracts about as long as pedicels; pedicel (excluding ovary) 2–10 mm long; ovary obconical. Labellum to 12 mm long and 5 mm wide, lamina with 2 raised, yellow to orange, much crested, moderately divergent calli which merge above the lateral lobes and continue, somewhat less elevated, to just below apex. Fruits c. 12–14 mm long, brown. Flowers Sep.–Jan. (where growing with G. procera its peak flowering time is 3–4 weeks earlier than that species).
GleP, VVP, VRiv, GipP, OtP, WaP, Gold, CVU, GGr, DunT, NIS, EGL, EGU, WPro, HSF, HNF, OtR, Strz, MonT, VAlp. All States except NT. New Zealand. Widespread and often locally common, in open forests, woodlands and coastal scrubs in sandy or clay loams.
See taxonomic notes under G. procera.
Entwisle, T.J. (1994). Orchidaceae. In: Walsh, N.G.; Entwisle, T.J., Flora of Victoria Vol. 2, Ferns and Allied Plants, Conifers and Monocotyledons, pp. 740–901. Inkata Press, Melbourne.
Spinning
