Erythrorchis
1 species endemic Aust.; Qld, NSW
Erythrorchis cassythoides
Terrestrial, leafless saprophytes with thick fleshy rhizomes. Stems usually numerous, branching, up to 6m long, climbing on tree trunks by means of short sucker-like aerial roots. Flowers very numerous in terminal panicles; pedicels 8–10 mm long. Perianth brown and yellow. Bracts at the base of the branches and panicles ± stem clasping. Sepals and petals almost equal but the petals narrower. Labellum sessile, undivided, 12–14 mm long, whitish with brown or red streaks, anteriorly undulate-crisped. Column long, erect, not winged or very obscurely so, shorter than the labellum. Anther with 2 pollen sacs, operculate, with a broad flat or convex dorsal appendage; pollinia 2, deeply bilobed, without a caudicle; pollen granular-farinaceous or waxy. Seeds winged, in large irregularly terete capsules. Coast to Blue Mts Shady places. Fl. spring–summer. Climbing Orchid