{{Short description|Genus of flowering plants}} {{Use Australian English|date=July 2024}} {{Italic title}} {{Speciesbox | name = Lizard orchid | image = Burnettia cuneata (15590312096).jpg | display_parents = 4 | genus = Burnettia | parent_authority = Lindl. | species = cuneata | authority = [[Lindl.]]<ref name="APC">{{cite web |title=''Burnettia'' |url=https://biodiversity.org.au/nsl/services/apc-format/display/70189|publisher=Australian Plant Census |access-date=22 October 2025}}</ref> | synonyms_ref = <ref name="APC" /> | synonyms = ''Lyperanthus'' sect. ''Burnettia'' <small>([[Lindl.]]) [[Otto Kuntze|Kuntze]]</small> }}
'''''Burnettia cuneata''''', commonly known as '''lizard orchid''',<ref name="Jones">{{cite book|last1=Jones|first1=David L.|title=A complete guide to native orchids of Australia including the island territories|date=2006|publisher=New Holland|location=Frenchs Forest, N.S.W.|isbn=1877069124|page =367}}</ref> is the only species of the [[flowering plant]] [[genus]] ''Burnettia'' in the orchid [[Family (taxonomy)|family]], [[Orchidaceae]]. It is a leafless [[Terrestrial plant|terrestrial]], [[mycotroph]]ic [[Herbaceous plant|herb]] with one or two leaf-like [[bract]]s and up to seven flowers that are brownish on the back and pink or white inside. It is [[Endemism|endemic]] to southeastern [[Australia]] where it grows in dense thickets in swamps.
==Description== ''Burnettia cuneata'' is a leafless, mycotrophic herb with a single leaf-like, lance-shaped to egg-shaped bract {{convert|10-20|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} long and {{convert|6-8|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} wide near its base. The fleshy, dark purplish brown flowering stem is {{convert|30-130|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} high and bears up to seven flowers. The flowers are {{convert|10-12|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} long, {{convert|20-25|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} wide, brownish on the back and pink or white inside. The [[sepal]]s and [[petal]]s are lance-shaped with the narrower end towards the base, {{convert|10-130|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} long and {{convert|3-4|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} wide with the [[wikt:dorsal|dorsal]] sepal forming a hood over the [[Column (botany)|column]]. The [[Labellum (botany)|labellum]] has dark red stripes and is wedge-shaped, {{convert|6-7|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} long with two longitudinal ridges along its midline. Flowering occurs between September and December but nearly always only after fires the previous summer.<ref name="Jones" /><ref name="RBGV">{{cite web |last1=Jeanes |first1=Jeff |title=''Burnettia cuneata'' |url=https://vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au/flora/taxon/a25d7841-6f37-479a-9009-07a09aa94464 |publisher=Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria |accessdate=6 November 2018}}</ref><ref name="RBGS">{{cite web |last1=Bernhardt |first1=Peter |title=''Burnettia cuneata'' |url=http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Burnettia~cuneata |publisher=Royal Botanic Garden Sydney |accessdate=6 November 2018}}</ref>
==Taxonomy and naming== ''Burnettia cuneata'' was first formally described in 1840 by [[John Lindley]] from a specimen collected in [[Tasmania]] and the description was published in his book ''[[The Genera and Species of Orchidaceous Plants]]''.<ref name=APNI>{{cite web|title=''Burnettia cuneata''|url= https://id.biodiversity.org.au/instance/apni/480616|accessdate=5 November 2018}}</ref><ref name="Lindl.">{{cite book |last1=Lindley |first1=John |title=The genera and species of Orchidaceous plants |date=1840 |publisher=Ridgways |location=London |page=518 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/9889#page/530/mode/1up |accessdate=6 November 2018}}</ref> The [[Botanical name|specific epithet]] (''cuneata'') is a [[Latin]] word meaning "wedge-shaped".<ref name=Wiktionary>{{cite web|title=cuneatus|url=https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/cuneatus#Latin|publisher=Wiktionary|accessdate=5 November 2018}}</ref>
==Distribution and habitat== Lizard orchid grows in dense thickets of ''[[Melaleuca]]'' and ''[[Leptospermum]]'' in near coastal swamps in [[New South Wales]], Tasmania and [[Victoria (Australia)|Victoria]]. In New South Wales it occurs south from the [[Blue Mountains (New South Wales)|Blue Mountains]] and in Victoria between [[Portland, Victoria|Portland]] and [[Mallacoota, Victoria|Mallacoota]] with a [[Disjunct distribution|disjunct]] population in the [[Grampian Mountains|Grampians]].<ref name="Jones" /><ref name="RBGV" /><ref name="RBGS" />
==See also== * [[List of Orchidaceae genera]]
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{Commons-inline|2=''Burnettia''}}
* [http://www.retiredaussies.com/ColinsHome%20Page/Orchids/Burnettia/Burnettia%20cuneata%20Lizard%20Orchid.htm Retired Aussies, ''Burnettia cuneata'', Lizard Orchid] * [https://www.flickr.com/photos/orchidsupclose/8102427169/ Flickr, Malcolm, ''Burnettia cuneata'']
{{Taxonbar|from1=Q311032|from2=Q15117465}}
[[Category:Monotypic Orchidoideae genera]] [[Category:Diurideae genera]] [[Category:Orchids of Australia]] [[Category:Orchids of Victoria (state)]] [[Category:Orchids of New South Wales]] [[Category:Orchids of Tasmania]] [[Category:Megastylidinae]] [[Category:Plants described in 1840]]