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Scientific Name
Glossodia major
Family Name
ORCHIDACEAE
Common Name
Wax-lip Orchid
Status
Height
0.1m - 0.3m (10-30cm)
Flowers
1-2 mauve to purple flowers (occassionally white), and an ovate, lanceolate labellum that is white at the base and purple-tipped with fused tall yellow basal calli.
Fruit
Papery capsule
Form
Broadly lanceolate, hairy, oblique leaf.
Municipalities
Break O'Day; Brighton; Burnie; Central Coast; Central Highlands; Circular Head; Clarence; Derwent Valley; Devonport; Dorset; Flinders Island; Georgetown; Glamorgan-Spring Bay; Glenorchy; Hobart; Huon Valley; Kentish; King Island; Kingborough; Latrobe; Launceston; Meander Valley; Northern Midlands; Sorell; Southern Midlands; Tasman; Waratah-Wynyard; West Coast; West Tamar
Communities
Dry Eucalypt Forest and Woodland; Grassy Vegetation; Heath
Habitat Notes
Heathy and grassy open eucalypt forest, woodland, shrubland and heathland, usually on well-drained sandy soils and gravelly loams. Widely distributed and often abundant in eastern and north-eastern Tas., including Bass Strait Is. including lowland areas up to 400m. Also in Qld, NSW, ACT, Vic. and SA.
Site Tolerance
Dry; Exposed; Shady
Frost Tolerance
Moderate
Soil Tolerance
Loam; Poor; Sandy; Well-drained
General Notes
Found in habitats where fires occur very frequently. Flowering increases significantly after fires and flowers tend to be larger. The flowers increase noticeably in size during the first few days after opening. There are locallised populations with a high percentage of white flowers. Well rerepresented in reserves. Suitable below powerlines.
Propagation Details
Propagation Calendar
Flowering Months
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Seed Collecting Months
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Sowing Months
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Cutting Months
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Seed Information
Seed Collection
Seed Treatment Method
Standard
Seed Storage Life
Viable Seeds Per Gram
Seed Treatment Notes
Orchid seeds are very minute yellow, brown or blackish dust-like particles. Orchid seeds are produced within a capsule that splits at maturity and releases tousands to millions of seeds. Dispersed by wind and water and only germinate following infection of the embryo by a suitable mycorrhizal fungus. Very few seeds become mature plants. For more information see Jones, Wapstra, Tonelli, Harris (1999): The Orchids of Tasmania.
Germination Time
Suitable for Direct Seeding
Cuttings
Expected Time to Take Root
Expected Time to Plant Out
Propagation by Division
N.B. Transplant only from nearby to avoid disease.
Cutting Notes
Copyright 2000-2009, Understorey Network Incorporated. Updated 2024-12-12
Database development and website design by
Andrew Smith