Lyperanthus suaveolens
R.Br. Brown-beaksFlowering plant, usually c. 40 cm tall. Leaf basal, linear to linear-lanceolate, leathery, acute, margin incurved, 23–33 cm long, c. 12 mm wide, dark green on outer (lower) surface, whitish on inner surface. Flowering stem tough and wiry, stem bracts usually 2, loosely sheathing, apex narrowed, 2–3 cm long. Flowers 2–6, pale green to reddish or brownish, often strongly fragrant, long-lived; pedicel (including ovary) 20–25 mm long, subtended by narrowly ovate, tapering bract which does not reach perianth; dorsal sepal closely incurved over column, tapering, sometimes recurved at apex, 15–20 mm long; lateral sepals and petals linear, spreading or recurved, acute, equal to dorsal sepal. Labellum curved in gentle semi-circle, c. 1 cm long, red and yellow; base erect with entire incurved margin; lateral lobes not prominent, rounded; mid-lobe oblong, obtuse, recurved, bright yellow, covered with papillate calli arranged irregularly in several rows. Column erect, incurved, winged. Flowers Aug.–Nov.
GleP, GipP, OtP, WaP, Gold, CVU, GGr, DunT, NIS, EGL, EGU, WPro, HSF, HNF, Strz, VAlp. Also Qld, NSW, Tas. Scattered mostly through the eastern half of Victoria, on near-coastal and foothill heaths and woodlands, occasionally on stony ground in open-forests.
Flower colour is quite variable, from greenish to yellow-brown to almost black.
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
