Website of Tobias Westmeier

Notes

This tiny Leek Orchid is closely related to the Autumn Leek Orchid (Prasophyllum parvifolium) and the Scented Autumn Leek Orchid (Prasophyllum sp. ‘early’), but differs from those species by its significantly smaller size, tiny green flowers with pink labellum, and the fact that the flowers don’t appear to open widely, suggesting that the orchid is self-pollinating rather than insect-pollinated. The specimen pictured below was growing in a grassy patch next to a walking track in mixed eucalyptus woodland near Bunbury in southwestern Australia, flowering in mid August.

I initially thought that I had found a specimen of an undescribed species called the Rare Leek Orchid (Prasophyllum sp. ‘Brookton Highway’), but that species has slightly different flowers, occurs in swampy areas rather than woodland, and flowers much later in September and early October. I therefore suspect that the specimen I found is of an unknown species of Leek Orchid, as it would not appear to match any of the three related species currently known to occur in Western Australia.

Photos