Earina, Orchid
Earina is a small genus of orchids in the family Orchidaceae, comprising about 10 species. Three species are endemic to New Zealand, and five occurs in New Caledonia, Tahiti, Samoa and Fiji. Earina mucronata is one of the three orchid species that are endemic to New Zealand, the other two are Earina aestivalis and Earina autumnalis. The species is generally epiphytic but occasionally grows as a lithophytic. The leaves grow from a flattened and unbranched pseudobulb, and are arranged alternately with the base of each leaf extended into a leaf sheath. The leaf sheath is 2 or 3 mm wide and completely encircles the stem. The surface of the leaf sheaths is constantly covered with tiny black spots, which make it a distinctive feature of the species. This orchid species flowers from spring to early summer, with the peak from October to December. The tiny flowers, less than 1 cm across, are borne in abundance on a branched raceme. The whole flower is usually white or cream, and yellow labellum .  Earina mucronata Author: Dennis Chuah (Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 3.0-unported) | ||
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