Common name: Purple Donkey Orchid
Diuris punctata Sm. APNI* Synonyms: Diuris elongata Sw. APNI*
Description: Terrestrial herb.
Leaves 2, linear, 15–30 cm long, 3–4 mm wide, conduplicate.
Raceme 30–60 cm high, 1–10-flowered. Flowers mauve or purple with darker markings and suffusions or yellow, 5–6 c. across. Dorsal sepal broadly ovate to elliptic, 10–18 mm long, 8–14 mm wide, obliquely erect, margins often recurved. Lateral sepals linear to lanceolate, 30–50 mm long, 2–4 mm wide, deflexed. Petals erect; lamina ovate to broad-ovate, 7–17 mm long, 7–15 mm wide; claw 2–6 mm long, dark-coloured. Labellum 9–15 mm long; lateral lobes linear to cuneate, 3–5 mm long, 1.5–4 mm wide, margins entire or irregular; midlobe broad-ovate to reniform or circular when flattened, 10–15 mm wide, ridged along midline; callus of 2 widely divergent ridges c. 5 mm long, surrounding area yellow.
Flowering: September–December
Distribution and occurrence: Grows in grassland, sclerophyll forest and heath.
NSW subdivisions: NC, CC, SC, NT, CT, ST, NWS, CWS
Other Australian states: Qld Vic. S.A.
A complex of variants at present under study. Hybridizes with D. aurea (producing D. X nebulosa D. L. Jones)
Text by D. L. Jones
Taxon concept:
| | Key to the varieties | |
| 1 | Flowers mauve to purple | var. punctata |
| Flowers yellow. | var. sulfurea |
APNI* Provides a link to the Australian Plant Name Index (hosted by the Australian National Botanic Gardens) for comprehensive bibliographic data
***The AVH map option provides a detailed interactive Australia wide distribution map drawn from collections held by all major Australian herbaria participating in the Australian Virtual Herbarium project.
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