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Swamp mignonette orchid

Microtis atrata

Also called Yellow Onion Orchid

Family
Orchidaceae (Orchid family)
Grows as
Orchid
Water
Likes moisture
Native range
S. Australia
Climate
subtropical

About

Microtis atrata, commonly known as the swamp mignonette orchid or yellow onion orchid and sometimes as Microtidium atratum, is a species of orchid endemic to southern Australia. It has a single thin leaf and up to forty or more yellowish-green flowers. The flowers are the smallest of any Australian ground-dwelling orchid. The orchid usually grows in large colonies after fire and although small, are easily seen because of their very large numbers in their blackened surroundings.

Where it grows

The swamp mignonette orchid occurs in the south-west of Western Australia, the south-east of South Australia, in southern Victoria and northern Tasmania. It grows in swampy places and in winter-wet depressions, sometimes in standing water and can form colonies of enormous numbers of plants after summer fire.

Other Microtis plants

White mignonette orchid · Scented mignonette orchid · Mona Vale onion orchid · Notched onion orchid · Sweet mignonette orchid · Cupped mignonette orchid · Slender mignonette orchid · Desert mignonette orchid · Coastal mignonette orchid · Globular mignonette orchid · Granite mignonette orchid · Dense mignonette orchid

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Microtis atrata by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts are shared under the same licence.

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.

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