Tall potato orchid facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Tall potato orchid
Gastrodia procera flowers
Scientific classification
Genus:	Gastrodia
Species:	procera

The tall potato orchid, also known as Gastrodia procera, is a special type of orchid. It doesn't have leaves like most plants. Instead, it gets its food from fungi in the soil. This plant grows on the ground, not on other plants. It belongs to the Orchidaceae family.

This orchid has a strong, dark brown or black stem that grows tall. On this stem, you can find many tube-shaped flowers. These flowers are cinnamon brown on the outside and white inside. You can find the tall potato orchid growing in wet forests in southeastern Australia.

What Does the Tall Potato Orchid Look Like?

The tall potato orchid is a plant that grows from the ground. It does not have any leaves. It gets its food from fungi in the soil.

It has a strong, dark brown or black stem. This stem can grow from 60 to 120 centimeters (about 2 to 4 feet) tall. On each stem, there can be anywhere from five to seventy flowers.

The flowers are shaped like tubes and are cinnamon brown. They feel a bit bumpy on the outside but are smooth and white inside. The sepals and petals of the flower are joined together. They form a tube about 10 to 12 millimeters long. The edges of the petals are wavy.

The part of the flower called the labellum is about 14 to 17 millimeters long. It is 5 to 8 millimeters wide. This part is white with orange edges.

You can see these orchids flowering from December to January. If there was a fire in the area the summer before, even more flowers might appear.

How Did It Get Its Name?

The tall potato orchid, Gastrodia procera, was first officially described in 1991. It was described by a scientist named Geoffrey William Carr. He studied a plant sample found near Albany in 1958.

The description was published in a paper called Indigenous Flora and Fauna Association Miscellaneous Paper. The second part of its scientific name, procera, is a Latin word. It means "tall," "slender," or "long." This name fits the orchid well because of its tall stem.

Where Does the Tall Potato Orchid Grow?

The tall potato orchid is quite common and can be found in many places. It grows in forests that get a lot of rain.

You can find it in New South Wales, starting from the Barrington Tops area. It also grows through the Australian Capital Territory. You can see it in southeastern Victoria and all the way down to Tasmania.