Dipodium elegantulum

Dipodium elegantulum, commonly known as the elegant hyacinth orchid, is a leafless orchid that is endemic to Queensland. In spring and summer it has up to sixty pale to dark pink flowers with a few darker spots and streaks near the tips, on a tall flowering stem.

Description
Dipodium elegantulum is a tuberous, perennial, saprophytic herb. Between August and December it produces a flowering stem 500-800 mm tall bearing between twenty and sixty flowers. The flowers are pale to dark pink with a few darker spots and streaks near the tips and 20-25 mm wide. The dorsal sepal is linear to lance-shaped, 14-17 mm long, 3-4 mm wide and the lateral sepals are a similar shape but slightly longer and narrower. The petals are a similar shape but slightly curved, 13-15 mm long, about 3 mm, free from each other and the sepals. The labellum is dark pink and projects forwards, 14-20 mm long, 4-5 mm wide with an upturned tip and a narrow central band of mauve hairs up to 0.5 mm long.

Taxonomy and naming
Dipodium atropurpureum was first formally described in 1991 by David Jones and the description was published in Australian Orchid Research from a specimen collected near Mareeba. The specific epithet (elegantulum) is a Latin word meaning "very fine", referring to the flowers of this orchid.

Distribution and habitat
The elegant hyacinth orchid is widespread in forest and grassy woodland between the Mount Windsor Tableland, the Hervey Range and Charters Towers.