# Leporella

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Genus of orchids

Fringed hare orchid Scientific classification Kingdom: Plantae Clade: Embryophytes Clade: Tracheophytes Clade: Spermatophytes Clade: Angiosperms Clade: Monocots Order: Asparagales Family: Orchidaceae Subfamily: Orchidoideae Tribe: Diurideae Subtribe: Megastylidinae Genus: Leporella A.S.George[2] Species: L. fimbriata Binomial name Leporella fimbriata (Lindl.) A.S.George[1] Synonyms[1] Caladenia fimbriata (Lindl.) Rchb.f. Caladenia fimbriata (Lindl.) Rchb.f. var. fimbriata Caladenia fimbriata var. pectinata (Lindl.) Rchb.f. Eriochilus fimbriatus (Lindl.) F.Muell. Leptoceras fimbriata Lindl. Leptoceras fimbriatum J.M.Black orth. var. Leptoceras pectinata Lindl. Leptoceras pectinatum Rupp orth. var.

***Leporella fimbriata***, commonly known as ***hare orchid*** or ***fringed hare orchid***, is the only species in the [flowering plant](/source/Flowering_plant) [genus](/source/Genus) *Leporella* in the orchid [family](/source/Family_(taxonomy)), [Orchidaceae](/source/Orchidaceae) and is endemic to the southern Australia mainland. It is related to orchids in the genus *[Caladenia](/source/Caladenia)* but has an unusual [labellum](/source/Labellum_(botany)) and does not have hairy leaves. Its pollination mechanism is also unusual.

## Description

*Leporella fimbriata* is a terrestrial, [perennial](/source/Perennial_plant), [deciduous](/source/Deciduous), [sympodial](/source/Sympodial) [herb](/source/Herbaceous_plant) with a few inconspicuous, fine roots and an oval-shaped [tuber](/source/Tuber) lacking a protective [sheath](/source/Tunica_(biology)). The tuber produces two "droppers" which become the daughter tubers in the following year. Unlike those in some other orchids, the droppers are produced well away from the parent tuber at the end of long, root-like [stolons](/source/Stolon). There are one or two egg-shaped to lance-shaped, [glabrous](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/glabrous) leaves at the base of the stem. The leaves are often small when the orchid flowers, but increase in size to 40 mm (2 in) long and 20 mm (0.8 in) wide, turning bluish-green with reddish veins as they mature.[3][4][5][6][7]

There are up to three [resupinate](/source/Resupination#Orchidaceae) flowers on the end of a wiry stem 10–25 cm (4–10 in) high. The flowers are 1–3 cm (0.4–1 in) long and 1 cm (0.4 in) wide. The [dorsal](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/dorsal) [sepal](/source/Sepal) is dished, 8–10 mm (0.3–0.4 in) long and curves over the [labellum](/source/Labellum_(botany)). The two [lateral](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/lateral) sepals are about the same length but very narrow and turned back against the ovary. As is usual in orchids, one [petal](/source/Petal) is highly modified as the central labellum. The other two petals are erect, 10–12 mm (0.4–0.5 in) long, narrow, linear in shape but with a club-like end which has many [glandular](/source/Gland_(botany)) hairs. The labellum is about 5 mm (0.2 in) long and 10 mm (0.4 in) wide, hairy and greenish with reddish-brown spots and a comb-like fringe. There are no obvious [calli](/source/Labellum_(botany)) on the labellum. The sexual parts of the flower are fused to the [column](/source/Column_(botany)), which has wing-like structures on its sides. Flowering occurs from March to June but the remains of the flower are often recognisable as late as September. The fruit is a non-fleshy, glabrous, [dehiscent](/source/Dehiscence_(botany)) [capsule](/source/Capsule_(botany)) containing a large number of seeds.[3][4][5][6][7]

Labelled image

## Taxonomy and naming

This orchid was first formally described in 1840 by [John Lindley](/source/John_Lindley) who gave it the name *Leptoceras fimbriata* and published the description in *[A Sketch of the Vegetation of the Swan River Colony](/source/A_Sketch_of_the_Vegetation_of_the_Swan_River_Colony)*.[8][9] In 1971, [Alex George](/source/Alex_George_(botanist)) described the genus *Leporella* and included this species.[10][11]

The genus name *"Leporella"* is derived from the [Latin](/source/Latin) word *lepus* meaning "hare"[12]: 393 with the diminutive suffix meaning *-ella*, hence "leporella" meaning "little hare".[5][12]: 490 The [specific epithet](/source/Botanical_name) "fimbriata" is a [Latin](/source/Latin) word meaning "fringed".[12]: 355

## Distribution and habitat

*Leporella fimbriata* usually grows in woodland or shrubland but is also found in heath and near areas that are swampy in winter. It is found in the western half of [Victoria](/source/Victoria_(Australia)), and across southern [South Australia](/source/South_Australia) to southern [Western Australia](/source/Western_Australia).[13] In Western Australia it occurs between [Shark Bay](/source/Shark_Bay) in the north and [Israelite Bay](/source/Israelite_Bay%2C_Western_Australia) on the south coast.[3] In South Australia, in the south-east, especially the [Yorke Peninsula](/source/Yorke_Peninsula) and [Eyre Peninsula](/source/Eyre_Peninsula),[13] and in the south-west of Victoria, including the [Anglesea](/source/Anglesea%2C_Victoria) area and outer [Melbourne](/source/Melbourne) suburbs.[6]

## Ecology

This orchid is a [myrmecophyte](/source/Myrmecophyte) and is [pollinated](/source/Pollinate) by a male [bull-ant](/source/Myrmecia_(ant)) (*[Myrmecia urens](/source/Myrmecia_urens)*, Family [Formicidae](/source/Ant)) when the ant attempts to [copulate](/source/Copulation_(zoology)) with the labellum.[5][14]

## See also

- [List of Orchidaceae genera](/source/List_of_Orchidaceae_genera)

- [List of the orchids of Western Australia](/source/List_of_the_orchids_of_Western_Australia)

## References

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-APC2_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-APC2_1-1) ["*Leporella fimbriata*"](https://biodiversity.org.au/nsl/services/apc-format/display/87895). Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 25 October 2025.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-APC1_2-0)** ["*Leporella*"](https://biodiversity.org.au/nsl/services/apc-format/display/87879). Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 25 October 2025.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Hoffman_3-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Hoffman_3-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-Hoffman_3-2) Hoffman, Noel; Brown, Andrew (2011). *Orchids of South-West Australia* (3rd ed.). Gooseberry Hill: Noel Hoffman. pp. 216–218. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780646562322](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780646562322).

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-FloraBase_4-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-FloraBase_4-1) ["*Leporella*"](https://florabase.dpaw.wa.gov.au/browse/profile/21284). *[FloraBase](/source/FloraBase)*. Western Australian Government [Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions](/source/Department_of_Biodiversity%2C_Conservation_and_Attractions).

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Orchids_5-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Orchids_5-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-Orchids_5-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-Orchids_5-3) Pridgeon, Alec M.; Cribb, Phillip J.; Chase, Mark W.; Rasmussen, Finn, eds. (2001). *Genera Orchidacearum, Volume 2, Orchidoideae (part 1)*. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press. pp. 159–162. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0198507100](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0198507100).

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-RBGV_6-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-RBGV_6-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-RBGV_6-2) ["*Leporella fimbriata*"](http://data.rbg.vic.gov.au/vicflora/flora/taxon/4d52608e-9bdd-40d1-9fea-1c9f3824ad00). Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria: vicflora. Retrieved 26 June 2016.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-efloraSA_7-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-efloraSA_7-1) ["*Leporella*"](http://www.flora.sa.gov.au/cgi-bin/speciesfacts_display.cgi?form=speciesfacts&family=&genus=Leporella&species=&iname=&submit=Display). State Herbarium of South Australia: efloraSA. Retrieved 26 June 2016.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-APNI(1)_8-0)** ["*Cyanicula*"](https://biodiversity.org.au/nsl/services/instance/apni/465072). APNI. Retrieved 26 June 2016.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Lindl._9-0)** Lindley, John (1840). [*A Sketch of the Vegetation of the Swan River Colony (Appendix)*](https://archive.org/details/sketchvegetatio00goog). Piccadilly, London: James Ridgway. p. 53. Retrieved 26 June 2016.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-APNI_10-0)** ["*Leporella fimbriata*"](https://biodiversity.org.au/nsl/services/instance/apni/508214). APNI. Retrieved 26 June 2016.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Nuytsia_11-0)** George, Alex (1971). "Four new species of Orchidaceae from Western Australia". *[Nuytsia](/source/Nuytsia_(journal))*. **1** (2): 183.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-RWB_12-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-RWB_12-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-RWB_12-2) Brown, Roland Wilbur (1956). *The Composition of Scientific Words*. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-ALA_13-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-ALA_13-1) ["*Leporella fimbriata*"](http://bie.ala.org.au/species/Leporella+fimbriata). Atlas of Living Australia. Retrieved 26 June 2016.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Peakall_14-0)** Rod Peakall (1989). "The unique pollination of *Leporella fimbriata* (Orchidaceae): pollination by pseudocopulating male ants (*Myrmecia urens*, Formicidae)". *[Plant Systematics and Evolution](/source/Plant_Systematics_and_Evolution)*. **167** (3–4): 137–148. [Bibcode](/source/Bibcode_(identifier)):[1989PSyEv.167..137P](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1989PSyEv.167..137P). [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1007/BF00936402](https://doi.org/10.1007%2FBF00936402). [S2CID](/source/S2CID_(identifier)) [27901569](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:27901569).

- Media related to [*Leporella fimbriata*](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Leporella_fimbriata) at Wikimedia Commons

Taxon identifiers Leporella Wikidata: Q1309329 Wikispecies: Leporella APNI: 87879 BOLD: 432083 CoL: 8VYT8 eFloraSA: Leporella EoL: 108667 FloraBase: 21284 GBIF: 2804992 GRIN: 6694 iNaturalist: 548101 IPNI: 29827-1 IRMNG: 1313763 NCBI: 152883 Open Tree of Life: 467597 POWO: urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:29827-1 Tropicos: 40004599 VicFlora: 7a5d15d3-dcf4-419c-94c4-2b16c1ad40f2 WFO: wfo-4000021181 Leporella fimbriata Wikidata: Q10557739 Wikispecies: Leporella fimbriata APNI: 87895 BOLD: 432084 CoL: 3TG43 eFloraSA: Leporella_fimbriata EoL: 1141089 FloraBase: 1653 GBIF: 5311097 iNaturalist: 548100 IPNI: 640275-1 NCBI: 152884 Open Tree of Life: 467591 Plant List: kew-110880 POWO: urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:640275-1 Species+: 79426 Tropicos: 50015044 VicFlora: 4d52608e-9bdd-40d1-9fea-1c9f3824ad00 WFO: wfo-0000226134

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Leporella](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leporella) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leporella?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.