Citation: Smith, Exot. Bot. 1:13 (1804) var. punctata forma blakneyae Bailey, Compr. Cat. Qld Pl. 847 ( 1913).

Synonymy: D. elongata Sw., J. Bot. (Schrader) 1, 1:59 (1805).

Common name: Purple donkey-orchid, purple cowslip.

Description:
Slender, glabrous, with stem 14-60 cm high and usually bearing 2 loosely sheathing cylindrical tapering bracts 6-8 cm long; leaves 1-4, usually 2, linear, channelled, 15-30 cm long.

Flowers 2-10, lilac, purplish-white (drying yellowish-brown), not blotched nor spotted (in S.Aust.), fragrant in some areas, not so in others; dorsal sepal c. 16 mm long, broadly ovate, erect; lateral sepals c. 5 cm long, greatly exceeding the petals, narrow-linear, spreading or parallel, green or brownish; petals circular to elliptic-oblong, 1-3 cm long and often longer than the dorsal sepal, with a short slender or robust stalk; labellure c. 2 cm long, usually a little darker than the dorsal sepal and petals, 3-lobed from the base; lateral lobes half as long as the mid-lobe, oblong, erect, with outwardly curved tips, the margins entire or with small rounded teeth; the mid-lobe c. 2 cm long, almost circular, on a narrow base, with 2 longitudinal raised yellow plates or ridges traversing from the base to the middle, ending in tooth-like processes, a more or less prominent central ridge extending to the tip, with a corresponding groove underneath; column short and broad, lateral wings lanceolate and about as high as the anther, the frontal margins yellow, sinuous; rostellum short, 2-fid pollinia 2.

Published illustration: Bailey (1909) Comp. Cat. Qld Pl., fig. 973E-H; Cady & Rotherham (1970) Australian native orchids in colour, pl. 18; Woolcock (1984) Australian terrestrial orchids, pl. 33B.

Distribution:    Qld; N.S.W.; Vic. Conservation status: native Flowering time: spring.

SA Distribution Map based on current data relating to specimens held in the State Herbarium of South Australia

Biology: This is a very variable species. Generally occurs in native grassland and open forest from the coast to the western plains in eastern Australia.

Author: Not yet available