{{Short description|Species of orchid}} {{Use Australian English|date=August 2024}} {{Speciesbox | name = Leafless tongue-orchid | image = Leafless Orchid Wallaroo Track.JPG | image_caption = ''Cryptostylis hunteriana'' in [[Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park]], [[Australia]] | status = VU | status_system = EPBC | taxon = Cryptostylis hunteriana | authority = [[William Henry Nicholls|Nicholls]]<ref name="APC">{{cite web |title=''Cryptostylis hunteriana'' |url=https://biodiversity.org.au/nsl/services/apc-format/display/89001|publisher=Australian Plant Census |access-date=23 October 2025}}</ref> | synonyms = }}
'''''Cryptostylis hunteriana''''', commonly known as the '''leafless tongue-orchid'''<ref name="plantnet" /> is a flowering plant in the orchid [[Family (taxonomy)|family]] [[Orchid]]aceae and is [[Endemism|endemic]] to south eastern [[Australia]]. It is leafless but has up to ten green flowers with a more or less erect, dark reddish brown [[Labellum (botany)|labellum]].
==Description== ''Cryptostylis hunteriana'' is a terrestrial, [[Perennial plant|perennial]], [[deciduous]], [[Saprotrophic nutrition|saprophytic]] [[Herbaceous plant|herb]]. Up to ten flowers {{convert|20-30|mm|in|sigfig=2|abbr=on}} long and {{convert|6-8|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} wide are borne on a flowering stem {{convert|80-450|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} high. The most prominent feature of the flower is its [[wikt:spatula|spatula]]-shaped labellum which is red or maroon with a green base, and is distinctly hairy. The labellum is {{convert|20-33|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} long and {{convert|6-8|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} wide with inrolled margins and a smooth underside. Thin green [[sepal]]s measuring {{convert|15-22|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} in length and about {{convert|1|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} wide arise from its base. The [[petal]]s are similar to the sepals but shorter and narrower. Flowering mainly occurs from December to February.<ref name="plantnet">{{cite web |last1=Weston |first1=Peter H. |title=''Cryptostylis hunteriana'' |url=http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Cryptostylis~hunteriana |publisher=Royal Botanic Garden Sydney |accessdate=11 July 2018}}</ref><ref>Les Robinson - Field Guide to the Native Plants of Sydney, {{ISBN|978-0-7318-1211-0}} page 245</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 hunteriana'' |url=https://vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au/flora/taxon/a6368003-f1c4-4c15-9948-4d6605bf4267|publisher=Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria |accessdate=11 July 2018}}</ref>
==Taxonomy and naming== ''Cryptostylis hunteriana'' was first formally described in 1938 by [[William Henry Nicholls]] from a specimen collected near [[Marlo, Victoria|Marlo]] by William Hunter (1893–1971), a surveyor from [[Bairnsdale]].<ref name="Willis">{{cite journal |last1=Willis |first1=James H. |title=Botanical pioneers in Victoria - III |journal=The Victorian Naturalist |date=1949 |volume=66 |page=127 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/126815#page/134/mode/1up |accessdate=11 July 2018}}</ref><ref name="ANBG">{{cite web |title=Hunter, William (1893 - 1971) |url=http://www.anbg.gov.au/biography/hunter-william.html |publisher=Australian National Herbarium |accessdate=11 July 2018}}</ref> The description was published in ''[[The Victorian Naturalist]]''.<ref name=APNI>{{cite web|title=''Cryptostylis hunteriana''|url= https://id.biodiversity.org.au/instance/apni/509888|publisher=APNI|accessdate=11 July 2018}}</ref> The [[Botanical name|specific epithet]] (''hunteriana'') honours the collector of the [[Type (biology)|type]] specimen.<ref name="Nicholls">{{cite journal |last1=Nicholls |first1=William H. |title=A new species of the genus ''Cryptostylis'' R.Br. |journal=The Victorian Naturalist |date=1938 |volume=54 |issue=11 |pages=181–183 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/125788#page/218/mode/1up |accessdate=11 July 2018}}</ref>
==Distribution and habitat== The leafless tongue-orchid grows singly or in small colonies in a range of habitats including wet heath and [[Cyperaceae|sedge]]land, on [[Xanthorrhoea resinosa|grasstree]] plains and in woodland with [[Eucalyptus sclerophylla|scribbly gum]], [[Eucalyptus sieberi|silvertop ash]], [[Corymbia gummifera|red bloodwood]] and [[Allocasuarina littoralis|black sheoak]]. It often grows near the other tongue-orchids ''[[Cryptostylis subulata|C. subulata]]'' and ''[[Cryptostylis erecta|C. erecta]]''. The species is found in coastal areas and nearby ranges south from the [[Gibraltar Range National Park]] in [[New South Wales]] to East [[Gippsland]] between Marlo and [[Genoa, Victoria|Genoa]] in [[Victoria (Australia)|Victoria]]. In [[Queensland]] it has been recorded from the coast at [[Tin Can Bay, Queensland|Tin Can Bay]] to the [[Glass House Mountains]].<ref name="plantnet" /><ref name="Jones" /><ref name="RBGV" /><ref name="OEH">{{cite web |title=Leafless tongue orchid - profile |url=http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/threatenedSpeciesApp/profile.aspx?id=10187 |publisher=Government of New South Wales Office of Environment and Heritage |accessdate=11 July 2018}}</ref><ref name="environment">{{cite web |title=Approved Conservation Advice for ''Cryptostylis hunteriana'' (Leafless Tongue-orchid) |url=http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/threatened/species/pubs/19533-conservation-advice.pdf |publisher=Australian Government Department of the Environment |accessdate=11 July 2018}}</ref>
==Ecology== Like other Australian members of its genus, ''C. hunteriana'' 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> Unlike other members of the genus, it lacks a leaf and is instead thought to have a relationship with a fungus for its metabolism.<ref name="OEH" />
==Conservation== The total population of ''C. hunteriana'' is estimated to be between 1300 and 1500 plants in New South Wales and several hundred in Victoria. The main threat to the species is habitat loss due to housing development and road construction. It has been classified as ''vulnerable'' under the Australian Government ''[[Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999]]'' and the New South Wales ''[[Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 (NSW)|Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016]]''. In Victoria it is listed as "endangered" under the ''[[Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988]]''.<ref name="RBGV" /><ref name="OEH" /><ref name="environment" />
== References == {{Reflist}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q5191070}}
[[Category:Cryptostylis|hunteriana]] [[Category:Endemic orchids of Australia]] [[Category:Orchids of New South Wales]] [[Category:Orchids of Victoria (state)]] [[Category:Orchids of Queensland]] [[Category:Plants described in 1838]]