Pallid beard orchid facts for kids

The pallid beard orchid (scientific name: Calochilus cleistanthus) is a special kind of orchid that only grows in Queensland, Australia. It's quite unique because its small, pale green or yellowish-green flowers stay closed! This orchid also looks like it doesn't have any leaves. It's very rare and has only been found in one place on the Cape York Peninsula.

What Does the Pallid Beard Orchid Look Like?

The pallid beard orchid is a plant that grows from the ground, not on other plants. It's a perennial plant, which means it lives for more than two years. It's also deciduous, so it sheds its leaves, but this orchid usually doesn't show any leaves at all! It grows from an underground tuber, which is like a small, swollen root that stores food.

This orchid can have up to four flowers. These flowers are pale green to yellowish-green. They are about 6 to 7 millimeters (about 0.25 inches) long and 4 to 6 millimeters (about 0.16 to 0.24 inches) wide. The flowers grow on a very thin, wiry stem that is yellowish-green. This stem can be from 150 to 400 millimeters (about 6 to 16 inches) tall.

A unique thing about these flowers is that they do not open. They stay closed! For about one day, they point sideways, then they stand straight up.

• The top part of the flower, called the dorsal sepal, is about 6 mm long and 5 mm wide.
• The side parts, called lateral sepals, are about 7 mm long and 3 mm wide.
• The petals are about 5 mm long and 2 mm wide.
• Most orchids in this group have a special lip-like part called a labellum that looks like it has a "beard" and fake "eyes." But the pallid beard orchid's labellum does not have these features.

You can usually see these flowers between December and January.

How Did It Get Its Name?

The pallid beard orchid was first officially described in 2004. This was done by a botanist named David Jones. He wrote about it in a magazine called The Orchadian. The plants he studied came from Cape York.

The second part of its scientific name, cleistanthus, helps us understand something about the flower. It comes from two Ancient Greek words:

• kleistos means "shut" or "closed."
• anthos means "flower."

So, cleistanthus basically means "closed flower," which perfectly describes this orchid!

Where Does It Live?

The pallid beard orchid likes to grow in wet, swampy areas. It often lives where you find plants like rushes and sedges in woodlands. This orchid is very rare. It has only ever been found in the exact place where the first samples were collected.