Rhizanthella gardneri R.S. Rogers 1928 Photo courtesy of Herb Foote.

Flower Photo courtesy of Ron Heberle.

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Common Name Gardner's Rhizanthella - The Western Underground Orchid

Flower Size .8 to 1" [2 to 2.5 cm] Flowerhead - .2 to .25" [5 to 6 mm] each individual flower

Found in Western Australia at elevations of 300 to 400 meters in mallee forms of broombush in well drained sandy clays as a small sized, hot to cool growing underground terrestrial orchid. Only the flower breaks the surface of the ground, so most of the orchids life is spent totally underground. This undergound marvel consists of a fleshy, white, sparsely hairy rhizome with sparse small, triangular bracts that blooms in the late fall on an erect, tapered, [4 to 6 mm] long, flower stem with a few scattered bracts carrying a concave, fleshy flowerhead with 6 to 8 floral bracts and 8 to 90 flowers held in a tight spiral. The plant is erect if below ground becoming prostrate if above gound

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; Native Orchids of Australia Jones 2006