Scientific Name: Calochilus paludosus

Common Name: strap beard-orchid

Family Classification (Clade): Monocots

Family: Orchidaceae

Form Description: Narrow keeled leaf.

Height (m): 0.15 – 0.35

Flowers: 1-9 flowers that open in warm weather. Slender beard orchid , widely spreading perianth segments that are usually bronze or reddish. The labellum has long, coarse, non-glandular reddish hairs with the lowest ones reduced to small calli, and a prominent long naked strap on the apex.

Fruit: Papery capsule

Municipality
Break O’DayBurnieCentral CoastCircular HeadDerwent ValleyDevonportDorsetFlindersGeorge TownHobartHuon ValleyKentishKing IslandKingboroughLatrobeTasmanWaratah-WynyardWest CoastWest Tamar
Plant Communities
Dry Eucalypt ForestHeathSedgeland and Wetland
Habitat Notes

Heathy and sedgy open eucalypt forest, teatree scrub, sedgeland and heathland on poorly drained peats and sandy soils, often near sheoaks.

Site Tolerance

Exposed, Moist, Shady, Waterlogged

Soil Tolerance

Nutrient-poor, Poorly-drained, Sandy

Frost Tolerance

Tender

Propagation Calendar

  • Flowering Month
    Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
  • Seed Collecting Month
    Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
  • Sowing Month
    Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
  • Cutting Month
    Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Propagation Method
Specialist Method

Seed Information

Seed Treatment Notes

Orchid seeds are very minute yellow, brown or blackish dust-like particles. Orchid seeds are produced within a capsule that splits at maturity and releases thousands to millions of seeds. Dispersed by wind and water and only germinate following infection of the embryo by a suitable mycorrhizal fungus. Very few seeds become mature plants. For more information see Jones, Wapstra, Tonelli, Harris (1999): The Orchids of Tasmania.