Prasophyllum pictum facts for kids

Prasophyllum pictum is a special type of orchid that only grows in New South Wales, Australia. It is also known as the Painted Leek Orchid. This plant has a single shiny, dark green, tube-shaped leaf. It produces beautiful, sweet-smelling flowers that can be brown, pink, purple, and white. This orchid is quite rare, found in only three small groups in the Northern Tablelands area.

What Does the Painted Leek Orchid Look Like?

The Painted Leek Orchid is a plant that grows from an underground tuber (like a small potato). It is a perennial herb, meaning it lives for more than two years. It is also deciduous, which means it loses its leaves at certain times of the year.

Each plant has one shiny, dark green leaf shaped like a tube. This leaf is usually about 200–300 mm (8–10 in) long and 3–4 mm (0.1–0.2 in) wide. The bottom part of the leaf often has a purplish color.

The flowers grow on a tall stalk, reaching up to 350 mm (10 in) high. There are usually between nine and twenty-two flowers crowded together on a flowering spike that is 100–200 mm (4–8 in) long. These flowers have a lovely sweet scent and are mostly white with hints of brown, pink, and purple.

Like other orchids in its group, the flowers of Prasophyllum pictum are upside down. This means the labellum (a special lip-like petal) is above the column (the part that holds the reproductive organs), instead of below it.

• The top sepal, called the dorsal sepal, is shaped like an egg or a spear. It is about 8–10 mm (0.3–0.4 in) long and 3–4 mm (0.1–0.2 in) wide. It has three to five darker lines and a pointed tip.
• The two side sepals, called lateral sepals, are long and narrow. They are about 8.5–11 mm (0.3–0.4 in) long and about 2 mm (0.08 in) wide. They are usually joined together, at least when the flower first opens.
• The petals are white with a pink or red area in the middle. They are long and narrow, about 8.5–11.5 mm (0.3–0.5 in) long and about 2 mm (0.08 in) wide.
• The labellum is white and shaped like an oblong or a spear. It is about 10–12 mm (0.4–0.5 in) long and about 4 mm (0.2 in) wide. It bends sharply upwards, more than 90 degrees.
• In the center of the labellum, there is a yellow, egg-shaped or wedge-shaped callus (a thickened part) with a dark green base. This callus extends well past the bend in the labellum.

This orchid usually flowers between late November and late December.

How Did the Painted Leek Orchid Get Its Name?

The Prasophyllum pictum was officially described in 2018 by two botanists, David Jones and Lachlan Copeland. They found a sample of this orchid near a place called Ebor. Their description was then published in a magazine called Australian Orchid Review.

The second part of its scientific name, pictum, comes from the Latin word pictus. This word means "painted" or "colored." This name was chosen because of the beautiful and colorful flowers of this leek orchid.

Where Does the Painted Leek Orchid Live?

This special leek orchid grows in grasslands and grassy woodlands. It prefers to live in areas that are about 1,300 m (4,000 ft) high.

The Prasophyllum pictum is very rare. It is only known from three small groups of plants, called subpopulations, near Ebor. In total, there are only about 200 of these plants known to exist.