Australian Native Plants

  Dipodium punctatum (Hyacinth Orchid)


Dipodium punctatum photo
Hyacinth Orchid - Dipodium punctatum

Photograph by David Lochlin. Some rights reserved.    (view image details)

Dipodium punctatum photo
native hyacinth orchid growing in the bush in Australia around 10k from the Sydney CBD

Photograph by David Lochlin. Some rights reserved.    (view image details)

Dipodium punctatum photo
Hyacinth Orchid (Dipodium punctatum)

Photograph by http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Cgoodwin. Some rights reserved.    (view image details)




HYACINTH ORCHID FACTS

distribution map showing range of Dipodium punctatum in Australia

Map is from The Atlas of Living Australia web site, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Australia License


Common Name
Hyacinth Orchid

Other Names
Christmas orchid

Description
The Hyacinth Orchid is a fairly large terrestrial orchid with stems to three quarters of a metre tall. The flowers have a superficial resemblance to a hyacinth flower, hence the common name. It produces clusters of pink flowers in summer from November to March. The individual flowers are star shaped and about 5 cm across with darker pink or purple spots on the petals and sepals. The plant has very small insignificant leaves. It is a saprophytic orchid - it obtains food from organic matter in the soil. The fruit is a capsule containing fine dust like seed. It is similar to the Rosy Hyacinth Orchid (Dipodium roseum)

Habitat
grows in shady position in woodland, dry forest and wet eucalypt forest

Distribution
Dipodium punctatum is found in eastern New South Wales, south east Queensland, Victoria, south east parts of South Australia

Growth Characteristics
Height: 0.75m


Classification
Class:Liliopsida
Order:Asparagales
Family:Orchidaceae
Genus:Dipodium
Species:punctatum
Common Name:Hyacinth Orchid


Relatives in same Genus
  Dipodium elegantulum
  Dipodium roseum
  Dipodium stenochilum