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SWAMP ORCHID FACTS |
Map is from The Atlas of Living Australia web site, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Australia License
Common Name
Swamp Orchid
Other Names
Swamp Lily, Greater Swamp-orchid
Description
The Swamp Orchid is a large ornamental orchid from eastern Australia. It produces large star shaped flowers that grow to about 10 cm across in clusters of up to a dozen per stem. The stem is fleshy and can grow to 2 m in height and about 5 cm across at the base. The flowers are pinkish brown or reddish brown with paler veins, and white on the reverse side. The lip or labellum is white and pinkish on the inside. The lateral sepals and petals are lance shaped. Flowering is in spring from September to November. Leaves are dark green and narrow, lance shaped, and grow to about a metre long. The leaves have a ribbed or corrugated look. This species is listed as endangered in New South Wales. The Swamp Orchid is grown in cultivation.
Habitat
grows at swamp margins in woodland or wet spots in rainforest
Distribution
Phaius tancarvilleae is found in north east Queensland, south east Queensland and north east New South Wales. It is also found in Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and other parts of Asia and the islands of the Pacific.
Growth Characteristics
Height: 100cm - 200cm
Classification
| Class: | Liliopsida | | Order: | Asparagales | | Family: | Orchidaceae | | Genus: | Phaius | | Species: | tancarvilleae | | Common Name: | Swamp Orchid |
Relatives in same Genus
Phaius australis
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