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Taeniophyllum hasseltii
Taeniophyllum hasseltii, commonly known as the Christmas Island ribbonroot, is a species of leafless epiphytic or lithophytic orchid that forms small clumps. It has short stems and flattened silvery grey roots pressed against the substrate on which it is growing. The flowers are tube-shaped, pale yellow and open one at a time. This orchid is only known from Christmas Island, an Australian territory and the Indonesia island of Java.
From the article Taeniophyllum hasseltii on Wikipedia (CC BY-SA), quoted section by section
Description
Taeniophyllum hasseltii is a leafless, epiphytic herb that forms small clumps. It has a stem about 1 millimetre (0.039 in) long and flattened silvery grey photosynthetic roots about 3 millimetres (0.12 in) wide, up to 200 millimetres (7.9 in) long and pressed against the substrate. Pale yellow, tube-shaped flowers 2–3 millimetres (0.079–0.12 in) long and 3–5 millimetres (0.12–0.20 in) wide open one at a time. The sepals and petals are about 2.5 millimetres (0.098 in) long and 1–1.5 millimetres (0.039–0.059 in) wide, the petals slightly narrower than the sepals. The labellum is boat-shaped, about 3.5 millimetres (0.14 in) long, 2 millimetres (0.079 in) wide with a spur on its end and a few hairs inside. Flowering occurs sporadically but the flowers are self-pollinating.
Range & habitat
The Christmas Island ribbonroot usually grows on the smallest branches of rainforest trees. It was first recorded on Christmas Island in 1987 when specimens were seen on small branches fallen from a rainforest tree. It is also known from Java and is probably present in other parts of Malesia.
== References ==
Wikipedia: “Distribution and habitat”
Where it lives
Recorded sightings
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geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
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In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Taeniophyllum hasseltii in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 1406397.