Christmas leek orchid facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Christmas leek orchid |
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Prasophyllum ellipticum R.Br. |
The Christmas leek orchid, also known as Prasophyllum brownii, is a special type of orchid. It grows only in the south-west part of Western Australia. This beautiful plant is one of the last leek orchids in Western Australia to bloom each year. It has a tall stem with many pale green and fawn-coloured flowers.
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What Does the Christmas Leek Orchid Look Like?
The Christmas leek orchid is a plant that grows from the ground. It is a perennial plant, meaning it lives for more than two years. It's also a deciduous plant, which means its leaves die back each year. This orchid has an underground tuber, which is like a small storage organ.
It grows a single, smooth, light green leaf that looks like a tube. This leaf can be very long, from about 600 to 1000 millimeters (24 to 39 inches) in length. The leaf is about 5 to 15 millimeters (0.2 to 0.6 inches) wide near its base.
Its Unique Flowers
The Christmas leek orchid produces a tall flower spike. This spike can grow from 400 to 1200 millimeters (16 to 47 inches) high. On this spike, you can find between thirty and eighty or even more flowers.
The flowers are light green, white, and fawn-coloured. Each flower is about 10 to 15 millimeters (0.4 to 0.6 inches) long and 10 to 12 millimeters (0.4 to 0.5 inches) wide. Like other leek orchids, its flowers are upside down. This means the labellum (a special lip-like petal) is above the column (the central part of the flower), not below it.
The top sepal (a leaf-like part that protects the flower) curves upwards. The petals face forward, making the flowers look like small cups. The side sepals stand upright and are joined together. The labellum is wide and turns upwards, but not as sharply as in some other leek orchids. It also has a pretty frilly edge. You can see these orchids flowering from November to January.
How Was It Named?
The Christmas leek orchid, Prasophyllum brownii, was first officially described in 1871. A scientist named Heinrich Gustav Reichenbach wrote about it. His description was published in a book called Beitrage zum Systematischen Pflanzenkunde.
The second part of its scientific name, brownii, honors a famous naturalist named Robert Brown. He collected the first example of this plant near Albany in 1801.
Where Does the Christmas Leek Orchid Grow?
The Christmas leek orchid can be found in many different places. It grows in wet areas, as well as in forests and woodlands. You might often see it growing on rotting logs and tree stumps. Its home range stretches from the city of Perth all the way to Esperance in Western Australia.
Is It Protected?
The good news is that the Christmas leek orchid is not considered to be in danger. The Western Australian Government's Department of Parks and Wildlife has classified it as "not threatened." This means there are enough of these orchids in the wild for now.
