Rabbit orchid facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Rabbit orchid
Leptoceras menziesii near American River on Kangaroo Island
Scientific classification
Genus:	Leptoceras
Species:	menziesii

The rabbit orchid (Leptoceras menziesii) is a special plant in the orchid family. It's the only plant in its group, known as Leptoceras. This orchid is usually slender and often grows in large groups. It mostly flowers after a bushfire. Its small flowers can be white, pink, and red. They grow on a stem up to 30 cm (10 in) tall. You can only find this orchid in southern Australia. It was one of the first orchids from Western Australia to be described. It was first called Caladenia menziesii, and some people still use that name today.

What the Rabbit Orchid Looks Like

The rabbit orchid is a perennial herb that grows from a tuber (a swollen underground stem). It usually reaches a height of 6–20 cm (2–8 in), but can sometimes grow up to 30 cm (10 in). Each plant has one to three flowers.

The orchid has one leaf that is smooth and doesn't have hairs. Its size and shape can vary. It's usually lance-shaped (like a spearhead) or broadly egg-shaped. The leaf is about 30–120 mm (1–5 in) long and 5–23 mm (0.2–0.9 in) wide.

The Flowers

The rabbit orchid has one to three small flowers. They can be all white, but usually they are a mix of white, pink, and red.

• The top part of the flower, called the sepal, is about 11 mm (0.4 in) long. It's dark reddish and spoon-shaped. This sepal forms a hood over the flower's central part, called the column. The back of this sepal has many tiny hairs that produce a sticky substance.
• The lower sepals are white or pink. They are wide in the middle and get narrower at both ends. These are 10–15 mm (0.4–0.6 in) long.
• The petals look like "ears" standing up. They are purplish-red and very narrow. They are club-shaped at their ends and are 16–30 mm (0.6–1 in) long. These petals also have many tiny sticky hairs.
• The central part, called the labellum, is white with pink or red marks. It's egg-shaped to almost round, about 7 mm (0.3 in) long. It has a short "claw" at its base.
• The labellum has 2 to 4 rows of bumps called calli, which have large heads.
• The column stands upright and has wide wings with pink markings.

This orchid flowers from August to November. It blooms much more after recent bushfires. In some places, it waits for rain before flowering.

How the Rabbit Orchid Got Its Name

Caladenia menziesii was one of the first three orchids ever collected in Western Australia. Archibald Menzies collected the first sample of this orchid in 1791. He found it at King George Sound during the Vancouver Expedition.

The plant was first officially described by Robert Brown. His description was published in a book called Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen. Later, in 1840, John Lindley changed the name to Leptoceras menziesii. He published this new name in his book The Genera and Species of Orchidaceous Plants. Even today, some plant collections still use the older name. The second part of the name, menziesii, honors Archibald Menzies, who first collected the plant.

Where Rabbit Orchids Live

Rabbit orchids grow in groups by spreading themselves through vegetative reproduction. This means they can grow new plants from their roots or stems, not just from seeds. They can be found in different types of soil in areas with heath (low-growing shrubs), scrub (dense bushes), or forest. They especially like damp places.

You can find rabbit orchids widely spread across Victoria, Tasmania, southern South Australia, and the south-west part of Western Australia.

Protecting Rabbit Orchids

The Government of Western Australia's Department of Parks and Wildlife says that Leptoceras menziesii is "not threatened." This means it is not currently in danger of disappearing.