Pink nodding orchid

Description

Geodorum densiflorum, commonly known as pink nodding orchid, is a plant in the orchid family and is native to areas from tropical Asia to eastern Australia and some Pacific Islands. It is a terrestrial orchid with broad, pleated, dark green to yellowish leaves and up to and twenty pale pink flowers with dark red veins on the labellum. It grows in wetter habitats including rainforest, woodlands, grasslands and swamps. Geodorum densiflorum is a leafy, terrestrial herb with crowded pseudobulbs 30–50 mm (1–2 in) long and 20–30 mm (0.8–1 in) wide. There are between three and five dark green to yellowish pleated leaves 250–350 mm (9.8–14 in) long and 60–80 mm (2–3 in) wide with a stalk 20–80 mm (0.8–3 in) long. Between eight and twenty resupinate, pale pink flowers 18–20 mm (0.7–0.8 in) wide are borne on a flowering stem 200–400 mm (8–20 in) long. The flowers do not usually open widely. The sepals are 10–12 mm (0.4–0.5 in) long, 3–4 mm (0.1–0.2 in) wide and the petals are a similar length but wider. The labellum is pink with dark red veins, 10–11 mm (0.39–0.43 in) long and 5–10 mm (0.2–0.4 in) wide with the sides curved upwards. Flowering occurs between December and February in Australia and between June and July in Asia. Geodorum densiflorum has been reported from India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Assam, Myanmar, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Thailand, Vietnam, Ryukyu Islands, Ogasawara Islands, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hainan, Sichuan, Taiwan, Yunnan, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, New Guinea, Australia, the Solomons, the Bismarcks, Fiji, Niue, New Caledonia, Samoa, Tonga, Vanuatu, and Micronesia. It grows in a range of mostly wet habitats including rainforests, forests and grassland. In Australia, the species occurs in Western Australia, northern parts of the Northern Territory and from Cape York in Queensland to the Macleay River in New South Wales.