Erythrorchis Blume

1 species endemic Aust.; Qld, NSW

Erythrorchis cassythoides (A.Cunn. ex Lindl.) Garay

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