Scientific Name: Microtis arenaria

Common Name: notched onion-orchid

Family Classification (Clade): Monocots

Family: Orchidaceae

Form Description: A robust, green to yellowish-green onion orchid; green to greenish-yellow tubular leaf 300-600mm long.

Height (m): 0.3 – 0.6

Flowers: 10-60 pale green to yellowish green, densely crowded flowers with recurved lateral sepals and a dorsal sepal that is prominently turned up at the tip. A long rectangular labellum, constricted in the middle and noticeably notched at the apex.

Municipality
BurnieCircular HeadClarenceDerwent ValleyDorsetFlindersGeorge TownGlamorgan-Spring BayHuon ValleyKing IslandKingboroughLatrobeLauncestonNorthern MidlandsSorellTasmanWest CoastWest Tamar
Plant Communities
Coastal VegetationDry Eucalypt ForestGrasslandHeath
Habitat Notes

Found in damper spots in coastal heathland, grassland and woodland.

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.