Greek lepto – slender; ceras – horn; the erect petals are narrow and horn-like.
Terrestrial herbs, sympodial, deciduous, stoloniferous. Tubers ovoid, paired at base of leaf, also produced singly at ends of stolons. Leaves basal, solitary, ovate to lanceolate, entire, green, glabrous. Inflorescences terminal, erect. Flowers resupinate, 1-3, small, white and reddish. Sepals dissimilar, free, dorsal shorter, laterals sickle-shaped. Petals slender, clubbed, longer than sepals, free. Labellum obscurely 3-lobed, lamina with 2-4 rows of clubbed calli. Column long, curved, prominently winged. Pollinia 4, soft and mealy, angular.
This native terrestrial orchid is occasionally grown in pots by enthusiasts. It is hardy and grows well and multiplies in a light well-drained compost that is normally changed annually. In nature, plants flower prolifically only after fire. In cultivation flowering can be induced by storing tubers over summer with an ethylene source such as decomposing banana skins.
1 species from southern Australia.
Small terrestrials with red and white flowers; the leaf is bright green and glabrous and often has a small ligule at the base.
Backhouse & Jeanes (1995).
Source: (2005). Orchidaceae. In: . Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 5. Flowering plants. Monocotyledons. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.