White potato orchid facts for kids
Quick facts for kids White potato orchid |
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|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Genus: |
Gastrodia
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| Species: |
urceolata
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The white potato orchid (scientific name: Gastrodia urceolata) is a special kind of orchid. It doesn't have leaves and gets its food from fungi in the ground. This plant has a pale brown stem that looks a bit fleshy. It can grow up to fifty-five upright flowers that are white or light brown. You can only find this rare orchid in one small area near Atherton in Queensland, Australia.
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What the White Potato Orchid Looks Like
The white potato orchid is a plant that grows on land and doesn't have leaves. It gets its food from fungi in the soil. Its stem is a bit shiny, fleshy, and pale brown. This stem can grow from about 20 to 130 centimeters (8 to 51 inches) tall.
This orchid has between ten and fifty upright white flowers. These flowers help tell it apart from other similar orchids in Australia. The flower parts, called sepals and petals, are joined together. They form a tube that is about 12 to 14 millimeters (0.47 to 0.55 inches) long. The tips of these parts spread out and look a bit warty, about 2 millimeters (0.08 inches) long.
Inside the flower, there's a special lip-shaped part called the labellum. It's about 12 to 14 millimeters (0.47 to 0.55 inches) long and 7 to 8 millimeters (0.28 to 0.31 inches) wide. This labellum has three sections and is completely hidden inside the flower's tube.
Life Cycle and Reproduction
The white potato orchid flowers from October to December. After the flowers bloom, they turn into upright, urn-shaped seed pods. These pods are called capsules and are about 6 millimeters (0.24 inches) long and wide. They hold the tiny seeds that can grow into new plants.
How the Orchid Got Its Name
The white potato orchid was first officially described in 1991 by a scientist named David Jones. He found a sample of the plant near Atherton in 1988. The description was then published in a research paper called Australian Orchid Research.
The second part of its scientific name, urceolata, comes from a Latin word, urceus. This word means "pitcher" or "urn." This name was chosen because the seed pods (capsules) of the orchid look like small urns.
Where the Orchid Lives
The white potato orchid is very rare. It is only known to exist in one small group of plants. This group lives on the Atherton Tableland in Queensland, Australia. It grows in the forests there.
