Underground orchid  (Rhizanthella gardneri)

Authentication

Authenticated (05/06/03) by Dr Phillip Cribb, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
http://www.rbgkew.org.uk

Glossary

  • Endemic: a species or taxonomic group that is only found in one particular country or geographic area.
  • Mycorrhizal: a fungus that forms a close physical association with the roots of a plant, this relationship is mutually beneficial.
  • Tuber: in plants, a thickened stem or root that acts as an underground storage organ. Roots and shoots grow from growth buds, called "eyes", on the surface of the tuber.
  • Vegetatively: type of asexual reproduction (reproduction without recombination of genetic material) that results in the propagation of plants using only the vegetative tissues such as leaves or stems. The resulting plant is genetically identical to the original plant. A well-known example of this is the reproduction of strawberry plants from 'runners'.

References

  1. Walter, K.S. and Gillett, H.J. (1998) 1997 IUCN Red List of Threatened Plants.Compiled by the World Conservation Monitoring Center, IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK.
  2. Hoffman, N. and Brown, A. (1992) Orchids of Southwest Australia.University of Western Australia Press, Perth.
  3. CITES (April, 2003)
    http://www.cites.org
  4. Dixon, K. (2003) Underground orchids on the edge. Plant Talk, 31: 34 - 35.
  5. Hágsater, E. and Dumont, V. (1996) Orchids: Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan.IUCN/SSC Orchid Specialist Group, IUCN, Gland.
  6. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew: Millennium Seed Bank Project (September, 2009)
    http://www.kew.org/msbp/index.htm
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