Cyrtostylis

{{short description|Genus of plants}} {{for|the taxonomic series within the Banksia genus | Banksia ser. Cyrtostylis}} {{Use Australian English|date=August 2024}} {{automatic taxobox | name = Gnat orchids | image = Cyrtostylis reniformis.jpg | image_caption = The common gnat orchid, ''[[Cyrtostylis reniformis]]'' | display_parents = 3 | taxon = Cyrtostylis | authority = [[Robert Brown (botanist, born 1773)|R.Br.]]<ref name="WCSP">{{cite web |url=http://wcsp.science.kew.org/namedetail.do?name_id=54917 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221012140440/https://wcsp.science.kew.org/namedetail.do?name_id=54917 |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 12, 2022 |title=''Cyrtostylis'' |work=[[World Checklist of Selected Plant Families]] (WCSP) |publisher=[[Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew]] }}</ref> | range_map = Cyrtostylis distribution map.png | range_map_caption = Distribution }}

'''''Cyrtostylis''''', commonly known as '''gnat orchids''', is a [[genus]] of five or six species of [[flowering plant]]s in the orchid [[Family (taxonomy)|family]] [[Orchidaceae]] and is [[Indigenous (ecology)|native]] to [[Australia]] and [[New Zealand]]. Cyrtostylis orchids often form dense colonies of [[Genetics|genetically]] identical plants. They have a single heart-shaped leaf and a thin flowering stem with pale coloured insect-like flowers. The [[wikt:lateral|lateral]] [[sepal]]s and [[petal]]s are similar in size and colour but the [[Labellum (botany)|labellum]] is shelf-like and conspicuous with two prominent [[Gland (botany)|glands]] at its base.

==Description== Orchids in the genus ''Cyrtostylis'' are terrestrial, [[Perennial plant|perennial]], [[deciduous]], [[sympodial]] [[Herbaceous plant|herbs]], usually with a few inconspicuous, fine roots and one or two [[tuber]]s. They often form dense colonies of [[Cloning|cloned]] plants. There is a single green, heart-shaped, ground-hugging leaf at the base of the flowering stem. The thin flowering stem bears one to a few flowers with the [[Column (botany)|column]] at the top. The flowers are usually pale coloured with an erect [[wikt:dorsal|dorsal]] sepal and spreading lateral sepals and petals. The petals and sepals are narrow lance-shaped and about as long as each other and the dorsal sepal. The labellum is stalkless, oblong and about as long as the sepals and petals with two bead-like glands and two ridges along its length. The [[Column (botany)|column]] is curved with wings and is about half as long as 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=163}}</ref><ref name="RBGV">{{cite web|title=''Cyrtostylis''|url=https://vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au/flora/taxon/25a05f5a-f5ad-418a-a96c-5b09c4070ded|publisher=Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria|access-date=28 April 2018}}</ref><ref name="RBGS">{{cite web|last1=Weston|first1=Peter H.|title=Genus ''Cyrtostylis''|url=http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&showsyn=&dist=&constat=&lvl=gn&name=Cyrtostylis|publisher=Royal Botanic Garden Sydney|access-date=28 April 2018}}</ref><ref name=FloraBase>{{FloraBase|name=''Cyrtostylis''|id=10916}}</ref>

Orchids in this genus are similar to those in ''[[Acianthus]]'' but lack the long [[wikt:appendage|appendage]] on the ends of the sepals and petals of that genus. The lateral sepals differ from the petals in ''Acianthus''.

==Taxonomy and naming== The genus was first formally described in 1810 by [[Robert Brown (botanist, born 1773)|Robert Brown]] in his ''[[Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae]]''. He described ''[[Cyrtostylis reniformis]]'' at the same time, making it the [[Type (biology)|type]] species.<ref name=APNI>{{cite web|title=''Cyrtostylis''|url= https://id.biodiversity.org.au/instance/apni/526979|publisher=APNI|access-date=28 April 2018}}</ref><ref name="R.Br.">{{cite book|last1=Brown|first1=Robert|title=Prodromus florae Novae Hollandiae|date=1810|location=London|page=322|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/21771#page/192/mode/1up|access-date=28 April 2018}}</ref>

The name ''Cyrtostylis'' is derived from the Greek words ''cyrtos'' meaning 'curved' and ''stylos'', 'pertaining to the style', referring to the curved column found in all members of this genus.<ref name="Brown" />

The [[World Checklist of Selected Plant Families]] lists five species of ''Cyrtostlyis'' but Australian authorities list six. The difference lies in the interpretation of ''[[Cyrtostylis huegelii]]''<ref name="Jones" /><ref name=Brown>{{cite book|last1=Brown|first1=Andrew|last2=Dundas|first2=Pat|last3=Dixon|first3=Kingsley|last4=Hopper|first4=Stephen|title=Orchids of Western Australia|date=2008|publisher=University of Western Australia Press|location=Crawley, Western Australia|isbn=9780980296457|page=196}}</ref><ref name=Hoffman>{{cite book|last1=Hoffman|first1=Noel|last2=Brown|first2=Andrew|title=Orchids of South-West Australia.|date=2011|publisher=Noel Hoffman|location=Gooseberry Hill|isbn=9780646562322|page=272|edition=3rd}}</ref><ref name=FloraBase2>{{FloraBase|name=''Cyrtostylis huegelii''|id=10916}}</ref> which the Checklist considers a [[Synonym (taxonomy)|synonym]] of ''Cyrtostylis reniformis'' var. ''huegelii''.<ref name="WCSP2">{{cite web |url=http://wcsp.science.kew.org/namedetail.do?name_id=54924 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221013180053/https://wcsp.science.kew.org/namedetail.do?name_id=54924 |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 13, 2022 |title=''Cyrtostylis'' |work=[[World Checklist of Selected Plant Families]] (WCSP) |publisher=[[Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew]] }}</ref>

* ''[[Cyrtostylis oblonga]]'' Hook.f. (New Zealand) * ''[[Cyrtostylis reniformis]]'' R.Br - common gnat orchid (all 6 states of Australia) * ''[[Cyrtostylis robusta]]'' D.L.Jones & M.A.Clem - large gnat orchid (S.A., W.A., Tas., Vic.) * ''[[Cyrtostylis rotundifolia]]'' Hook.f. (New Zealand) * ''[[Cyrtostylis tenuissima]]'' (Nicholls & Goadby) D.L.Jones & M.A.Clem. - dwarf gnat orchid (W.A.)

== References == {{Reflist|30em}} {{refbegin}} *{{cite web | url = http://www.publish.csiro.au/samples/Orchid%20Key%20for%20web/html/genera/Acianthus.htm#top | title = ACIANTHUS; Mosquito Orchids | access-date = 2007-12-01 | author = | authorlink = | publisher = [[CSIRO]] | quote = (Kores 1995) ... very broad generic approach, for example including ''Cyrtostylis'' within the generic boundaries of ''Acianthus'' despite an earlier study to the contrary (Jones and Clements 1987). }} * {{aut|Pridgeon, A.M., Cribb, P.J., Chase, M.C. & Rasmussen, F.N.}} (2001) Orchidoideae (Part 1). Genera Orchidacearum 2: 75 ff. Oxford University Press. {{refend}}

== External links == {{Commons-inline|italic=1}}

[[Category:Cyrtostylis| ]] [[Category:Diurideae genera]] [[Category:Orchids of Australia]] [[Category:Flora of New South Wales]] [[Category:Flora of Queensland]] [[Category:Flora of South Australia]] [[Category:Flora of Victoria (state)]] [[Category:Flora of New Zealand]] [[Category:Taxa named by Robert Brown (botanist, born 1773)]]