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Genoplesium alticola
A small, deciduous terrestrial orchid from Queensland's tablelands that grows from an underground tuber and bears a few tiny dark flowers in late season. It is a wild native rather than a common garden plant, so growing it means matching its open, seasonally dry forest habitat.
Genoplesium alticola, commonly known as tableland midge orchid, is a small terrestrial orchid endemic to Queensland, Australia. It has a single thin leaf fused to the flowering stem and up to twenty five small, hairy, dark purplish-red and green flowers. It grows in two small areas of the state at altitudes between 600 and 750 m (2,000 and 2,500 ft).
At the time it was first described in 1991, this species was known from only two locations — the Herberton Range west and south of Atherton and on Walshs Pyramid approximately 45 km (28 mi) to the east of Atherton. As of October 2025 there are nine occurrences recorded, ranging from Mount Windsor, west of Cape Tribulation, south to about Cardwell. It has been found in open stunted forest on ridges, on clay and sandy soils, at altitudes around 600 to 750 m (1,970 to 2,460 ft). It often grows amongst low shrubs, herbs and grasses.
Corunastylis densa · Genoplesium laminatum · Genoplesium leptochilum · Genoplesium trifidum · Midge Orchids · Pointed midge orchid · Black midge orchid · Freak midge orchid · Elfin midge orchid · Erect midge orchid · Brittle midge orchid · Gibraltar Range midge orchid
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Genoplesium alticola by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
