Prasophyllum colensoi

Features

Terrestrial, tuberous, fleshy, glabrous, summer-green, perennial herb up to 300 mm tall when flowering. Tuber shortly ovoid, adjacent to or occasionally up to 10 mm away from previous seasons tuber. Stem erect, more or less smooth, terete, dark green basally tinged with red. Leaf shorter than or overtopping raceme; 100-300 mm long, dark green or reddish green, if dark green with base tinged red, terete, hollow, linear-lanceolate, apex acute. Inflorescence racemose. Raceme 5-20-flowered, flowers evenly spaced, or clumped together and more or less overlapping. Perianth green, yellowish-green, pale yellow, reddish-green to dark red or maroon, colours sometimes intermixed on the same plant. Dorsal sepal 5 mm long, ovate, concave, sometimes recurved; lateral sepals slightly longer, narrower, weakly fused in bud and usually remaining so at least near base, channelled, apex minutely cucullate, shortly apiculate, appearing bidentate. Petals a little shorter, wider, more delicate. Labellum of similar length, narrowed at base and almost sessile, occasionally shortly clawed, ovate, recurved but not abruptly so; margin entire, smooth to undulate; callus extending as an irregularly thickened median band almost to the narrowly subacute apex. Lateral processes of column bilobed, anterior lobe membranous and slightly shorter than anther; posterior lobe much smaller and more or less callus-like. Anther sessile, just overtopped by rostellum. Stigma barely its own height above column-base.