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Spathoglottis unguiculata

Dark Purple Ground Orchid

Multimedia & Additional Resources

Type	Description	Download
Image:	Leaves and flowers	51KB
Image:	Flower detail	64KB
Image:	Flowers - three species	50KB

General Information

COMMON NAMES: Dark Purple Ground Orchid

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE New Caledonia - Vanuatu - ?Fiji

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Introduced - Recent, Not naturalised; Land, lowlands, gardens

SIGNIFICANCE LIST: Ornamental flowers

KEY FEATURES: Ground orchid with pleated leaves to 80cm. FLOWER STALK to 100cm, with 10-40, dark purple flowers. FLOWERS petals to 20x10mm. Separated from similar species by having lip midlobe short and wide (10mmL, with stalk 2mmW, and tip 8mmW); tip edge smooth; lip basal lump 2-lobed, shaggy-haired.

SIMILAR SPECIES: See under Fernland Orchid (Spathoglottis plicata).

Enlarged Image of 'Spathoglottis unguiculata'

Cook Islands Distribution

View Distribution Map

Southern Group: Present Makatea: Present
RR	MG	AT	MK	MT	AK	PL	TK	MN
	++	+				-		-

Northern Group:
TN	MH	RK	PK	NS	SW
-	-	-	-	-	-

Key to Symbols

blank	no data
-	absent	L	localised
X	extinct 'naturally'	W	widespread
XQi	quarantine intercepted	R	recent
XQe	eradicated	?	query preceding category
P	present	T?	taxonomic query
S	seasonal	nn	present, said to have no name
O	occasional	?1	present, name not investigated
++++	very common	?2	presence not verified, no name recorded
+++	common	N/A	absent, name not expected
++	uncommon
+	rare
Cook Islands islands: RR =Rarotonga, MG = Mangaia, AT =‘Ātiu, MK=Ma‘uke, MT=Miti‘āro, AK=Aitutaki, PL=Palmerston, PN=Penrhyn, MN=Manuae, TK=Takūtea, TN=Tongareva (TS=Tongaleva Spoken, TW=Tongareva Written, they say "el" but write "r"), MH=Manihiki, RK=Rakahanga, PK=Pukapuka, NS=Nassau, SW=Suwarrow. After a Polynesian name: ^=orthography query. Countries and other: FIJ=Fiji, WT=Wallis & Futuna, SAM=Samoa, TON=Tonga, NIU=Niue, CK=Cook Islands, CKM=Cook Islands Māori, FP=French Polynesia, AUS=Australs, SOC=Societies, TAH=Tahiti, TUA=Tuamotus, MQS=Marquesas, MNG=Mangareva, PIT=Pitcain group, EAS=Easter Island, HAW=Hawai‘i, NZ=New Zealand, NZM=New Zealand Māori

Scientific Taxonomy

Spathoglottis unguiculata (Labill.)
SYNONYMS: Limodorum unguiculatum; Spathoglottis deplanchei [New Caledonia]; Spathoglottis breviscapa; Spathoglottis schinziana

TAXONOMY: PLANTAE; ANTHOPHYTA (=Angiospermae); LILIOPSIDA (=Monocotyledones); LILIIDAE; Orchidales; ORCHIDACEAE

More Information

IDENTIFICATION: A ground orchid to 80cm, with pleated lance-like leaves from the base. Flower-stalk to 80cm. Flowers, fragrant, 10-40+, rose to dark purple, petals ovate, to 20x10mm; lip 3-lobed, sidelobes sub= midlobe, arrow-shaped when flattened (lateral lobes 30° to midlobe); sidelobes wide and long, to 8x5mm; midlobe 10mm long, stalk 2mm wide, tip 8mm wide, edge smooth; basal lump (=callus) bilobed and shaggy-haired. Fruit cylindric, 30mm long.

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
None Recorded.

References:
Special Reference: Detailed in Lewis & Cribb (1989) Orchids of Vanuatu, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew.

p.5/568 A.C.Smith - Flora Vitiensis Nova

Data Update History (information):
zTX, zB02, zM02, zD02, zupD04a

Web Resources

Citation Information

McCormack, Gerald (2007) Cook Islands Biodiversity Database, Version 2007.2. Cook Islands Natural Heritage Trust, Rarotonga. Online at http://cookislands.bishopmuseum.org.
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