{{Short description|Species of orchid}} {{Use Australian English|date=August 2024}} {{Speciesbox | name = Large tongue orchid | image = Ground Orchid wallaroo2.JPG | image_caption = In [[Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park]] | status = | status_system = | taxon = Cryptostylis subulata | authority = ([[Labill.]]) [[Rchb.f.]]<ref name="APC">{{cite web |title=''Cryptostylis subulata'' |url=https://biodiversity.org.au/nsl/services/apc-format/display/89052|publisher=Australian Plant Census |access-date=24 October 2025}}</ref> | synonyms_ref =<ref name="APC" /> | synonyms = * ''Cryptostylis longifolia'' <small>[[R.Br.]] [[nom. illeg.]], nom. superfl.</small> * ''Malaxia subulata'' <small>[[R.S.Rogers]] [[orth. var.]]</small> * ''Malaxis subulata'' <small>[[Labill.]]</small> }}
'''''Cryptostylis subulata''''', commonly known as '''large tongue orchid''', '''duckbill orchid''' or '''cow orchid''',<ref>Les Robinson - Field Guide to the Native Plants of Sydney, {{ISBN|978-0-7318-1211-0}} page 245</ref> is a common and widespread orchid in south eastern [[Australia]] and [[New Zealand]]. It has relatively large, leathery, dark green to yellowish-green leaves and up to twenty yellowish flowers with a reddish-brown and dark purple [[Labellum (botany)|labellum]]. It is often found in damp or swampy situations but also occurs in drier places.
==Description== ''Cryptostylis subulata'' is a terrestrial, [[Perennial plant|perennial]], [[deciduous]], [[Herbaceous plant|herb]] with leathery, dark green to yellowish-green leaves which sit on [[petiole (botany)|petioles]] that are anywhere from {{convert|1|to|15|cm|in|round=0.5|abbr=on}} long. The leaves are lance-shaped and measure {{convert|5|–|20|cm|in|round=0.5|abbr=on}} long and {{convert|1|–|3|cm|in|round=0.5|abbr=on}} across. The [[inflorescence]]s (flower spikes) appear from August to April and bear two to twenty individual flowers on a flowering stem which is {{convert|50|–|80|cm|in|round=0.5|abbr=on}} tall. Each flower has three green [[sepal]]s which are {{convert|1.8|to|3|cm|in|abbr=on}} long, and two [[petal]]s which are {{convert|1.0|to|1.3|cm|in|abbr=on}} long and narrower than the sepals. The labellum is a rolled reddish brown, purplish or yellowish tube-like structure measuring {{convert|1.5|–|3.5|cm|in|abbr=on}} long by {{convert|0.5|–|1|cm|in|abbr=on}} across. There is a dark purple [[Labellum (botany)|callus]] ending in two knobs on the lower side of the labellum.<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 =269}}</ref><ref name=plantnet>{{NSW Flora Online|genus=Cryptostylis|species=subulata|author=Peter H. Weston}}</ref><ref name="NZPCN">{{cite web|title=''Cryptostylis subulata''|url=http://www.nzpcn.org.nz/flora_details.aspx?ID=725|publisher=New Zealand Plant Conservation Network|accessdate=15 January 2018}}</ref>
==Taxonomy and naming== Large tongue orchid was first formally described in 1806 by [[Jacques Labillardière]] from a specimen collected in [[Tasmania]]. Labillardière gave it the name ''Malaxis subulata'' and published the description in ''[[Novae Hollandiae Plantarum Specimen]]''.<ref name=APNI(1)>{{cite web|title=''Malaxis subulata''|url= https://id.biodiversity.org.au/instance/apni/462736|publisher=APNI|accessdate=15 January 2018}}</ref><ref name="Labill.">{{cite book|last1=Labillardière|first1=Jacques|title=Novae Hollandiae Plantarum Specimen |date=1806|volume=2 |location=Paris|page=62|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/40881977#page/62/mode/1up|accessdate=15 January 2018}}</ref> In 1871 [[Heinrich Gustav Reichenbach|H.G. Reichenbach]] changed the name to ''Cryptostylis subulata''.<ref name=APNI>{{cite web|title=''Cryptostylis subulata''|url= https://id.biodiversity.org.au/instance/apni/509951|publisher=APNI|accessdate=15 January 2018}}</ref> The [[Botanical name|specific epithet]] (''subulata'') is derived from the [[Latin]] word ''subula'' meaning "[[wikt:awl|awl]]".<ref name="NZPCN" /><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 =113}}</ref>
==Distribution and habitat== It is tolerant of a range of soils, from well-drained sandy heathland to swampy depressed areas,<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&dq=cryptostylis&pg=PA118|accessdate=22 November 2010}}</ref> as well as dry eucalypt forest. It occurs mostly in coastal districts of Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania, although it is also found in the [[Blue Mountains (Australia)|Blue Mountains]].<ref name=plantnet/> In New Zealand it is only known from swamps north of [[Kaitaia]] and [[Taipa-Mangonui]].<ref name="NZPCN" />
==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&dq=cryptostylis&pg=PA134 |accessdate=22 November 2010}}</ref>
==Use in horticulture== ''Cryptostylis subulata'' 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/>
== References == {{Reflist}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q5191071}}
[[Category:Cryptostylis|subulata]] [[Category:Orchids of New South Wales]] [[Category:Orchids of Victoria (state)]] [[Category:Orchids of South Australia]] [[Category:Orchids of Tasmania]] [[Category:Orchids of New Zealand]] [[Category:Taxa named by Jacques Labillardière]] [[Category:Plants described in 1806]]