Glossodia

For the suburb of Sydney in Australia, see Glossodia, New South Wales.

Glossodia
File:Waxlip closeup.jpg
waxlip orchid (Glossodia major)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Monocots
Order:	Asparagales
Family:	Orchidaceae
Subfamily:	Orchidoideae
Tribe:	Diurideae
Subtribe:	Caladeniinae
Genus:	Glossodia R.Br.

Glossodia is a genus of mostly purple orchids from Australia. In spring vast numbers of Glossodia major flower on uncleared land.

There are only two recognised species:

• Glossodia major R.Br. - waxlip orchid, native to Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania and South Australia.
• Glossodia minor R.Br. - small waxlip orchid, native to Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria.

Cultivation

Glossodia are difficult to maintain in cultivation. Growing from seed in vitro has yielded very poor results, and plants taken from the wild usually last only a few years. This may be due to the plants' complete reliance on a symbiotic fungus for nutrition. These orchids form no roots and obtain nutrients from mycorrhizal fungi. A reasonably successful solution to this has been to grow new plants in the same pot each year. This usually requires hand pollination, but it can result in a better yield.

References

• Brown, R. (1810) Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae 325.
• Pridgeon, A.M., Cribb, P.J., Chase, M.C. & Rasmussen, F.N. (2001) Orchidoideae (Part 1). Genera Orchidacearum 2: 107 ff. Oxford University Press.

External links

• Media related to Glossodia at Wikimedia Commons
• Data related to Glossodia at Wikispecies