Rosy hyacinth orchid

Appearance

"Dipodium roseum" is a leafless, tuberous, perennial, mycoheterotrophic herb. Between fifteen and fifty pale pink flowers with small dark red spots and 20–30 mm wide are borne on a green to dark reddish black flowering stem 40–100 cm tall. The sepals and petals are linear to elliptic, 13–20 mm long, 3–6 mm wide and free from each other with their tips curved backwards. The labellum is pink with dark lines, 10–15 mm long, 4–6.5 mm wide and has three lobes with their tips turned upwards. The centre lobe has a broad band of pink to mauve hairs. A rare white-flowering form also exists. Flowering occurs from November to February.

This orchid is often confused with "D. punctatum" but has a broader band of labellum hairs, smaller dark red spots and more recurved sepals and petals.

Naming

"Dipodium roseum" was first formally described in 1991 by David Jones and Mark Clements and the description was published in "Australian Orchid Research". The type specimen was collected in Montrose in Victoria's Dandenong Ranges. The specific epithet is a Latin word meaning "rose-coloured", referring to the colour of the flowers of this orchid. The species was previously included in a wider circumscription of "Dipodium punctatum".

Distribution

The rosy hyacinth orchid grows in a range of habitats from dry woodland to wet forests. It occurs in Queensland south from Gympie, on the coast and ranges of New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory and in most of Australia where it is the most common "Dipodium". It is also found in the south-east of South Australia and is the only member of the genus to occur in Tasmania.