Chiloglottis is a small genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 in the orchid family

Family (biology)

In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...

 Orchidaceae

Orchidaceae

The Orchidaceae, commonly referred to as the orchid family, is a morphologically diverse and widespread family of monocots in the order Asparagales. Along with the Asteraceae, it is one of the two largest families of flowering plants, with between 21,950 and 26,049 currently accepted species,...

.

The botanical name of the genus is derived from Greek words, referring to the tongue-shaped lip

Labellum

Labellum is the Latin diminutive of labium, meaning lip. These are anatomical terms used descriptively in biology, for example in Entomology and botany.-Botany:...

. The type species

Type species

In biological nomenclature, a type species is both a concept and a practical system which is used in the classification and nomenclature of animals and plants. The value of a "type species" lies in the fact that it makes clear what is meant by a particular genus name. A type species is the species...

 is Chiloglottis diphylla R.Br.

Robert Brown (botanist)

Robert Brown was a Scottish botanist and palaeobotanist who made important contributions to botany largely through his pioneering use of the microscope...

, Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen

Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen

Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen is an 1810 flora of Australia by botanist Robert Brown. Often referred to as Prodromus Flora Novae Hollandiae, or by its standard botanical abbreviation Prodr. Fl. Nov. Holland., it was the first attempt at a survey of the Australian flora...

: 323 (1810), that has now become a synonym of Chiloglottis reflexa [LaBill.] Druce 1917.

This genus of deciduous, terrestrial orchids is indigenous to Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

 and New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

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The species have 1 to 4 paired oblong-lanceolate, glabrous leaves

Leaf

A leaf is an organ of a vascular plant, as defined in botanical terms, and in particular in plant morphology. Foliage is a mass noun that refers to leaves as a feature of plants....

 (usually two) and subterranean tuberoids. The flower

Flower

A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to effect reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism for the union of sperm with eggs...

s have 4 pollina

Pollinium

Pollinium, or plural pollinia, is a coherent mass of pollen grains in a plant.They are the product of only one anther, but are transferred, during pollination, as a single unit. This is regularly seen in plants such as orchids and many species of milkweeds .Most orchids have waxy pollinia...

. The short peduncle

Peduncle (botany)

In botany, a peduncle is a stem supporting an inflorescence, or after fecundation, an infructescence.The peduncle is a stem, usually green and without leaves, though sometimes colored or supporting small leaves...

 elongates after fertilisation of the flower. The flower is insect-pollinated by sexual deception (pseudocopulation

Pseudocopulation

Pseudocopulation describes behaviors similar to copulation that serve a reproductive function for one or both participants but do not involve actual sexual union between the individuals. It is most generally applied to a pollinator attempting to copulate with a flower. Some flowers mimic a...

) of specific wasp

Wasp

The term wasp is typically defined as any insect of the order Hymenoptera and suborder Apocrita that is neither a bee nor an ant. Almost every pest insect species has at least one wasp species that preys upon it or parasitizes it, making wasps critically important in natural control of their...

s. The lip

Labellum

Labellum is the Latin diminutive of labium, meaning lip. These are anatomical terms used descriptively in biology, for example in Entomology and botany.-Botany:...

 has raised calli, whose structures mimic the flightless female of the wasp pollinator

Pollination

Pollination is the process by which pollen is transferred in plants, thereby enabling fertilisation and sexual reproduction. Pollen grains transport the male gametes to where the female gamete are contained within the carpel; in gymnosperms the pollen is directly applied to the ovule itself...

.

List of species

1. Chiloglottis anaticeps D.L.Jones, Austral. Orchid Res. 2: 37 (1991).
2. Chiloglottis chlorantha D.L.Jones, Austral. Orchid Res. 2: 37 (1991).
3. Chiloglottis cornuta Hook.f., Fl. Antarct.: 69 (1844).
4. Chiloglottis formicifera Fitzg., Austral. Orch. 1(3): t. 9 (1877).
5. Chiloglottis grammata G.W.Carr, Indig. Fl. Fauna Assoc. Misc. Pap. 1: 20 (1991).
6. Chiloglottis gunnii Lindl., Gen. Sp. Orchid. Pl.: 387 (1840).
7. Chiloglottis jeanesii D.L.Jones, Muelleria 10: 64 (1997).
8. Chiloglottis longiclavata D.L.Jones, Austral. Orchid Res. 2: 38 (1991).
9. Chiloglottis palachila D.L.Jones & M.A.Clem., Austral. Orchid Res. 2: 39 (1991).
10. Chiloglottis platychila G.W.Carr, Indig. Fl. Fauna Assoc. Misc. Pap. 1: 21 (1991).
11. Chiloglottis platyptera D.L.Jones, Austral. Orchid Res. 2: 39 (1991).
12. Chiloglottis pluricallata D.L.Jones, Austral. Orchid Res. 2: 40 (1991).
13. Chiloglottis reflexa (Labill.) Druce, Rep. Bot. Exch. Club Brit. Isles 1916: 614 (1917).
14. Chiloglottis seminuda D.L.Jones, Austral. Orchid Res. 2: 41 (1991).
15. Chiloglottis sphaerula D.L.Jones, Austral. Orchid Res. 5: 73 (2006).
16. Chiloglottis sphyrnoides D.L.Jones, Austral. Orchid Res. 2: 41 (1991).
17. Chiloglottis sylvestris D.L.Jones & M.A.Clem., Proc. Roy. Soc. Queensland 98: 123 (1987).
18. Chiloglottis trapeziformis Fitzg., Austral. Orch. 1(3): t. 9 (1877).
19. Chiloglottis triceratops D.L.Jones, Austral. Orchid Res. 3: 66 (1998).
20. Chiloglottis trullata D.L.Jones, Austral. Orchid Res. 2: 42 (1991).
21. Chiloglottis truncata D.L.Jones & M.A.Clem., Proc. Roy. Soc. Queensland 98: 124 (1987).
22. Chiloglottis turfosa D.L.Jones, Austral. Orchid Res. 2: 43 (1991).
23. Chiloglottis valida D.L.Jones, Austral. Orchid Res. 2: 43 (1991).

Taxonomic notes

In 2005 the following species were transferred to the new genus Myrmechila

Myrmechila

Myrmechila is a small genus from the orchid family Orchidaceae.The name is derived from the Greek words myrmex and cheilos , referring to the arrangement of the lip calli....

:

• Chiloglottis formicifera
• Chiloglottis platyptera
• Chiloglottis trapeziformis
• Chiloglottis trullata
• Chiloglottis truncata

Intergeneric hybrid: Chiloglottis × pescottiana R.S.Rogers, (1918).: (Chiloglottis valida x Myrmechila trapeziformis) : Alpine Bird Orchid (SE Australia)