Scientific Name: Eriochilus cucullatus
Common Name: autumn-orchid
Family Classification (Clade): Monocots
Family: Orchidaceae
Form Description: Summer and autumn flowering orchid with a thin, wispy, scape. Oval dark green ground-hugging leaf develops fully after flowering.
Height (m): 0.1 – 0.25
Flowers: Small flowers that have a pair of enlarged white or pink lateral sepals, tiny thin petals, and a sharply recurved hairy labellum closely embracing the column. Bristles red-white.
Fruit: Papery capsule
Municipality
Plant Communities
Habitat Notes
Common in a range of habitats from heathy open eucalypt forest to heathland and buttongrass moorland on well drained as well as poorly drained soils, from coast to sub-alpine areas.
Site Tolerance
Dry, Exposed, Moist, Shady, Waterlogged
Soil Tolerance
Clay, Loam, Nutrient-poor, Poorly-drained, Sandy, Well-drained
Frost Tolerance
Hardy
General Notes
The flowers produce nectar that gathers in the base of the labellum.
Propagation Calendar
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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
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.