{{Short description|Species of orchid}} {{Italic title}} {{Speciesbox | name = Red-lipped bunny orchid | image = | image_caption = | status_system = | status = | genus = Eriochilus | species = valens | authority = [[Stephen Hopper|Hopper]] & [[A.P.Br.]]<ref name="WCSP">{{cite web |url=http://wcsp.science.kew.org/namedetail.do?name_id=346850 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180815055835/http://wcsp.science.kew.org/namedetail.do?name_id=346850 |url-status=dead |archive-date=August 15, 2018 |title=''Eriochilus valens'' |work=[[World Checklist of Selected Plant Families]] (WCSP) |publisher=[[Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew]] }}</ref> | synonyms_ref = | synonyms = }}
'''''Eriochilus valens''''', commonly known as the '''red-lipped bunny orchid''',<ref name="Jones" /> is a plant in the orchid family [[Orchidaceae]] and is [[Endemism|endemic]] to [[Western Australia]]. It has a single egg-shaped leaf held above the ground and up to four small pink or white and pink flowers. It grows near winter-west swamps and usually only flowers after fire the previous summer.
==Description== ''Eriochilus valens'' is a terrestrial, [[Perennial plant|perennial]], [[deciduous]], [[Herbaceous plant|herb]] with an underground tuber and a single egg-shaped leaf {{convert|5-20|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} long and {{convert|5-10|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} wide. The leaf is held above the ground on a thin stalk {{convert|20-50|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} high. Up to four white or pink flowers about {{convert|10|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} long and wide are borne on a stem, {{convert|10-250|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} tall. The [[wikt:dorsal|dorsal]] [[sepal]] is egg-shaped with the narrower end towards the base, {{convert|6-8|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} long and {{convert|2-3|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} wide. The [[wikt:lateral|lateral]] sepals are {{convert|9-11|mm|in|sigfig=2|abbr=on}} long, {{convert|3-4|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} wide and spread forwards. The [[petal]]s are narrow [[wikt:spatula|spatula]]-shaped {{convert|5-7|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} long, about {{convert|1|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} wide and are held close to the dorsal sepal. The [[Labellum (botany)|labellum]] is pink to red, {{convert|6-8|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} long, about {{convert|3|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} wide and has three lobes. The middle lobe is {{convert|2.5-3.5|mm|in|sigfig=2|abbr=on}} long and is fleshy with red bristles. Flowering occurs from March to May but is much more prolific after fire the previous summer.<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 =278}}</ref><ref name="Nuytsia">{{cite journal |last1=Hopper |first1=Stephen |last2=Brown |first2=Andrew Phillip |title=New and reinstated taxa in ''Eriochilus'' |journal=Nuytsia |date=2006 |volume=16 |issue=1 |pages=58–59 |url=https://florabase.dpaw.wa.gov.au/science/nuytsia/449.pdf |accessdate=13 August 2018}}</ref><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=260}}</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=228|edition=3rd}}</ref>
==Taxonomy and naming== ''Eriochilus valens'' was first formally described in 2006 by [[Stephen Hopper]] and [[Andrew Phillip Brown|Andrew Brown]] from a specimen collected in the Bakers Junction Nature Reserve north of [[Albany, Western Australia|Albany]] and the description was published in ''[[Nuytsia (journal)|Nuytsia]]''.<ref name=APNI>{{cite web|title=''Eriochilus valens''|url= https://id.biodiversity.org.au/instance/apni/615289|publisher=APNI|accessdate=13 August 2018}}</ref> The [[Botanical nomenclature|specific epithet]] (''valens'') is a [[Latin]] word meaning "strong" or "vigorous",<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 =829}}</ref> referring to the large labellum of this orchid.<ref name="Brown" />
==Distribution and habitat== The red-lipped bunny orchid grows in woodland and shrubland around winter-wet swamps, mainly between [[Walpole, Western Australia|Walpole]] and [[Albany, Western Australia|Albany]].<ref name="Nuytsia" /><ref name="Brown" /><ref name="Hoffman" /><ref name=FloraBase>{{FloraBase|name=''Eriochilus valens''|id=15416}}</ref>
==Conservation== ''Eriochilus valens'' is classified as "not threatened" by the Western Australian Government [[Department of Parks and Wildlife (Western Australia)|Department of Parks and Wildlife]].<ref name="FloraBase" />
==References== {{Reflist|30em}}
{{Taxonbar|from= Q10273631}}
[[Category:Eriochilus|valens]] [[Category:Orchids of Western Australia]] [[Category:Endemic orchids of Australia]] [[Category:Plants described in 2006]] [[Category:Endemic flora of Western Australia]] [[Category:Taxa named by Stephen Hopper]]