Botanical art
Prior names
Calochilus imberbis
Common names
Purplish Beard-orchid
Brown-beard
Etymology
Calochilus from the Greek 'callos' meaning beauty and 'cheilos' meaning lip, referring to the ornamented labellum of most species. Robertsonii named after John George Robertson (1807-1890), a 19th century collector for Kew.
Distribution and status
Found on Kangaroo Island, southern Mount Lofty Ranges and the South-east in South Australia, growing singly or in small groups in open forest or around swamp margins. Also found in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania. Native. Rare in South Australia. Rare in Queensland. Common in the other States.
Herbarium regions: Murray, Southern Lofty, Kangaroo Island, South Eastern, Green Adelaide
AVH map: SA distribution map (external link)
Plant description
Terrestrial orchid growing to 60 cm tall with up to 9 flowers on each stem. Flowers are green with reddish stripes, dorsal sepal, erect to 20 mm long. Labellum is very distinctive, covered with crowded purple calli at the base and long reddish purple glistening glandular hairs which become yellowish at its tip. Flowering between December and February. Fruits are brown papery ellipsoid capsule. Seeds are very small brown ellipsoid seed with a long cylindrical translucent brown mesh-like covering.
Seed collection and propagation
Collect seeds between February and April. Collect fat capsules as they start to dry and turn brown. Pods will split and release the seeds quickly and will require monitoring. To increase the chances of collecting mature pods, it is recommended that a small breathable bag (ie. Organza bags) be used to enclose the developing capsules. Place the capsules in a container that will hold fine seeds and leave to dry for a few weeks or until the capsule split. Then carefully hold the capsule and tap it gently to release the seeds. Store the seeds with a desiccant such as dried silica beads or dry rice, in an air tight container in a cool and dry place, refrigerator or in liquid nitrogen. For the NVC South East Orchid Project two populations consisting of more than forty individuals were recorded in the Bangham and Naracoorte area. A total of 1320,000 seeds (0.53 g) were banked from this population. Seed viability ranged from 78% to 87%. Seed germination in Calochilus species is difficult without compatible mycorrhizal fungi. More research is needed in order to understand the germination requirements in the genus Calochilus.
| Location | No. of seeds (weight grams) | Number of plants | Date collected | Collection number Collection location | Date stored | % Viability | Storage temperature |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BGA | 1,150,000 (0.461 g) | 20+ | 18-Nov-2013 | DJD2777 South Eastern | 1-Nov-2016 | 78% | -80°C |
| BGA | 170,000 (0.069 g) | 3 | 12-Oct-2013 | KHB776 South Eastern | 1-Nov-2016 | 87% | -80°C |
| BGA | 1,952,600 (0.78 g) | 10 | 23-Nov-2018 | JRG701 South Eastern | 24-Apr-2019 | N/C | -18°C, -80°C |
| BGA | 513,000 (0.206 g) | 3 | 9-Dec-2020 | P.Faast Southern Lofty | 28-Jun-2021 | N/C | -18°C |
Number of plants: This is the number of plants from which the seeds were collected.
Collection location: The Herbarium of South Australia's region name.
% Viability: Percentage of filled healthy seeds determined by a cut test or x-ray.