{{Short description|Species of orchid}} {{Use Australian English|date=August 2024}} {{Speciesbox | name = Bonnet orchid | image = Orchid Wallaroo track.JPG | image_caption = [[Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park]], [[Australia]] | status = | status_system = | taxon = Cryptostylis erecta | authority = [[R.Br.]]<ref name="WCSP">{{cite web |url=http://wcsp.science.kew.org/namedetail.do?name_id=52166 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200331200111/https://wcsp.science.kew.org/namedetail.do?name_id=52166 |url-status=dead |archive-date=March 31, 2020 |title=''Cryptostylis erecta'' |work=[[World Checklist of Selected Plant Families]] (WCSP) |publisher=[[Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew]] }}</ref> | synonyms = }}
'''''Cryptostylis erecta''''', commonly known as the '''bonnet orchid''' or '''tartan tongue orchid ''',<ref name="plantnet" /> is an orchid [[Endemism|endemic]] to south eastern [[Australia]]. A small and common plant, it has dark green lance-shaped to egg-shaped leaves and up to twelve greenish flowers with a large, bonnet-like or hood-like, lilac-coloured [[Labellum (botany)|labellum]] with a network of purple veins.
==Description== ''Cryptostylis erecta'' is a terrestrial, [[Perennial plant|perennial]], [[deciduous]], [[Herbaceous plant|herb]] with one to several egg-shaped to lance-shaped leaves {{convert|60-130|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} long and {{convert|13-30|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} wide on a [[Petiole (botany)|petiole]] {{convert|10-100|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} long. The leaves are dark green on the upper surface and purple below. Between two and twelve flowers {{convert|25-30|mm|in|sigfig=2|abbr=on}} long and {{convert|10-15|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} wide are borne on a flower spike {{convert|300-800|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} high. The most prominent feature of the flower is its hood- or bonnet-shaped labellum which is {{convert|20-30|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} long and {{convert|10-15|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} wide, greenish to [[wikt:#Nounlilac|lilac]]-coloured with a network of purple or maroon veins and a few purple spots. The base of the labellum is narrow and surrounds the [[Column (botany)|column]]. The [[sepal]]s are green, {{convert|18-25|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} and {{convert|1.5-2|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} and the [[petal]]s are {{convert|10-15|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} and about {{convert|1|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} wide, all spreading apart from each other. Flowering occurs from September to April.<ref name=plantnet>{{NSW Flora Online|genus=Cryptostylis|species=erecta|author=Peter H. Weston}}</ref><ref>Les Robinson - Field Guide to the Native Plants of Sydney, {{ISBN|978-0-7318-1211-0}} page 244</ref><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 =268}}</ref><ref name="RBGV">{{cite web |last1=Jeanes |first1=Jeff |title=''Cryptostylis erecta'' |url=https://vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au/flora/taxon/4151c020-eba8-465c-9e4f-1c334feb4f4b |publisher=Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria |accessdate=4 July 2018}}</ref>
==Taxonomy and naming== ''Cryptostylis erecta'' was first formally described in 1810 by [[Robert Brown (botanist, born 1773)|Robert Brown]] and the description was published in ''[[Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen]]''.<ref name=APNI>{{cite web|title=''Cryptostylis erecta''|url= https://id.biodiversity.org.au/instance/apni/509879|publisher=APNI|accessdate=4 July 2018}}</ref><ref name="R.Br.">{{cite book|last1=Brown|first1=Robert|title=Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen|date=1810|location=London|page=317|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/21871#page/185/mode/1up|accessdate=4 July 2018}}</ref> The [[Botanical nomenclature|specific epithet]] (''erecta'') is a [[Latin]] word meaning "upright".<ref name="RWB">{{cite book|last1=Brown|first1=Roland Wilbur|title=The Composition of Scientific Words|date=1956|publisher=Smithsonian Institution Press|location=Washington, D.C.|page = 307}}</ref>
==Distribution and habitat== The natural habitat of ''C. erecta'' is on sandy soils, dry [[eucalyptus]] woodlands and heathlands. Its range extends from the [[Kroombit Tops National Park]] in [[Queensland]] south through [[New South Wales]] to east [[Gippsland]] in [[Victoria (Australia)|Victoria]]. It occurs mostly in coastal districts, although it is also found in the Upper [[Blue Mountains (Australia)|Blue Mountains]].<ref name="plantnet"/><ref name="Jones"/><ref name="RBGV"/>
==Ecology== Like other Australian members of its genus, it is pollinated by the [[ichneumonidae|ichneumon]] wasp known as the orchid dupe wasp (''[[Lissopimpla excelsa]]''), the males of which mistake the flower parts for female wasps and copulate with it.<ref>{{cite book |title=Phylogeny and classification of the orchid family |author=Robert L. Dressler |year=1993 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge, UK |isbn=0-521-45058-6 |page=134|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4_xL5qOVa-sC&q=cryptostylis&pg=PA134 |accessdate=22 November 2010}}</ref><ref name="Gaskett">{{cite journal |last1=Gaskett |first1=Anne C. |title=Floral shape mimicry and variation in sexually deceptive orchids with a shared pollinator |journal=Biological Journal of the Linnean Society |date=July 2012 |volume=106 |issue=3 |pages=469–481 |doi=10.1111/j.1095-8312.2012.01902.x|doi-access= }}</ref>
==Use in horticulture== ''Cryptostylis erecta'' has been successfully grown by orchid enthusiasts, but is slow growing. The rhizomes are delicate and resent disturbance, and need to be moist at all times.<ref name=Pidgeon>{{cite book|editor1=Pridgeon, Alec M. |editor2=Cribb, P.J. |editor3=Chase, M.A. |editor4=Rasmussen, F. |year=2001|title=Genera Orchidacearum 2|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=0-19-850710-0|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jNFvwlGdTEcC&q=cryptostylis&pg=PA118|accessdate=22 November 2010}}</ref>
== References == {{Reflist}}
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[[Category:Cryptostylis|erecta]] [[Category:Endemic orchids of Australia]] [[Category:Orchids of New South Wales]] [[Category:Orchids of Queensland]] [[Category:Orchids of Victoria (state)]] [[Category:Plants described in 1810]] [[Category:Taxa named by Robert Brown (botanist, born 1773)]]