Phreatia listeri

Phreatia listeri
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Monocots
Order: Asparagales
Family: Orchidaceae
Subfamily: Epidendroideae
Tribe: Podochileae
Subtribe: Thelasiinae
Genus: Phreatia
Lindl.
Species: P. listeri
Binomial name
Phreatia listeri
Rolfe[1]

Phreatia listeri is a species of epiphytic orchid. It is endemic to Christmas Island, an Australian territory in the north-eastern Indian Ocean. Its specific epithet honours British zoologist and plant collector Joseph Jackson Lister, who visited the island on HMS Egeria in 1887.[2]

Description

Phreatia listeri is a small, clump-forming epiphytic orchid. The long, thin leaves are 40–110 mm long and 2–5 mm wide. The 40–80 mm long inflorescence has many tiny, greenish-white flowers, only about 1 mm across. The orchid's lip is concave and contracted at the base. The seed capsule is 25 mm long.[2]

Distribution and habitat

Found only on Christmas Island, the orchid is common on rainforest trees growing on the plateau and the upper terraces of the island.[2]

Relationships

The orchid resembles both P. limenophylax Benth. from Norfolk Island, and P. minutiflora Lindl. from Borneo, but differs from them in its larger size and in the contracted lip.[2]

References

Notes

  1. Rolfe (1890)
  2. 1 2 3 4 Flora of Australia Online.

Sources


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