Scientific Name: Leptoceras menziesii
Common Name: hares ears
Family Classification (Clade): Monocots
Family: Orchidaceae
Form Description: Colony forming orchid with a bright green, hairless, ovate-lanceolate ground-hugging leaf; wiry scape.
Height (m): 0.1 – 0.3
Flowers: Up to 3 small perfumed flowers that have prominent paired white lateral sepals, hooded red dorsal sepal and erect dark red petals resembling ears.
Fruit: Papery capsule
Municipality
Plant Communities
Habitat Notes
Heathland and heathy open eucalypt forest on well-drained peaty and sandy soils. Locally fairly common in low and coastal areas mostly in the north, including King Is. and the Furneaux Group.
Site Tolerance
Dry, Exposed, Shady
Soil Tolerance
Nutrient-poor, Sandy, Well-drained
Frost Tolerance
Tender
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.