Southern fleshy jewel orchid facts for kids

The Southern Fleshy Jewel Orchid (scientific name: Cheirostylis notialis) is a special type of orchid. It only grows in eastern Australia. You can find it in shady spots in wet forests. This orchid has a few egg-shaped leaves. It also grows small flowers. These flowers might open very slowly, or sometimes not at all! It looks a bit like another orchid, C. ovata, but its leaves and flowers are smaller.

About the Southern Fleshy Jewel Orchid

The Southern Fleshy Jewel Orchid is a tuberous plant. This means it has a swollen underground stem, like a potato. It is also a perennial herb. This means it lives for more than two years and has soft stems, not woody ones like a tree.

It usually has three to six leaves. These leaves are shaped like an egg. They are about 13 to 35 millimeters (0.5 to 1.4 inches) long. They are also about 9 to 20 millimeters (0.35 to 0.79 inches) wide. Each leaf has a small stem called a petiole. This petiole is about 3 to 10 millimeters (0.12 to 0.39 inches) long.

The plant grows a flowering stem. This stem can be 50 to 180 millimeters (2 to 7 inches) tall. On this stem, you might see up to four small flowers. These flowers are usually white and a bit hairy. They are about 6 to 9 millimeters (0.24 to 0.35 inches) long. They are also about 5 to 6 millimeters (0.20 to 0.24 inches) wide. The flowers are resupinate. This means they are twisted upside down.

Each flower has different parts:

• The top part is called the dorsal sepal. It is about 5 to 6 millimeters long. It joins with the side sepals to form a tube.
• The lateral sepals are on the sides. They are similar in size to the dorsal sepal.
• The petals are the same length as the sepals. But they are only about half as wide.
• The labellum is a special lip-like petal. It is about 8.5 millimeters (0.33 inches) long. It is also about 7 millimeters (0.28 inches) wide. It has a shallow, pouch-like base. The very tip of the labellum has two parts, called lobes. These lobes have edges that look like tiny teeth.

You can see these orchids flowering from October to November.

How it Got its Name

The Southern Fleshy Jewel Orchid was first officially described in 1997. A botanist named D.L.Jones gave it its scientific name. He found a sample of the plant near Broken Head in northern New South Wales.

The second part of its scientific name, notialis, is a Latin word. It means "southern." This name was chosen because the orchid mostly grows in the southern parts of its range.

Where it Lives

The Southern Fleshy Jewel Orchid likes to grow in wet forests. It also grows in rainforests. You can find it in south-eastern Queensland, near a place called Miriam Vale. It also grows down to New South Wales, near Scotts Head.