Schistotylus

Life-forms

Classification System: APG IV

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Plantae
Cladus: Angiosperms
Cladus: Monocots
Ordo: Asparagales

Familia: Orchidaceae
Subfamilia: Epidendroideae
Tribus: Vandeae
Subtribus: Aeridinae
Genus: Schistotylus
Species: (1)
S. purpuratus
Name

Schistotylus Dockrill, Australas. Sarcanthinae: 29 (1967)

Lectotype: Schistotylus purpuratus (Rupp) Dockrill, Australas. Sarcanthinae: 30 (1967) ex: Cleisostoma gemmatum Rupp, Victorian Naturalist 54: 112 (1937), nom. illeg.
monotypic taxon

Distribution
Native distribution areas:

Australasia
Australia
New South Wales.

References: Brummitt, R.K. 2001. TDWG – World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions, 2nd Edition
References
Primary references

Dockrill, A.W. 1967. Australasian Sarcathinae 29.
Pridgeon, A.M., Cribb, P.J., Chase, M.W. & Rasmussen, F.N. (eds.) 2014. Genera Orchidacearum Volume 6: Epidendroideae (Part three); page 280 ff., Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19964-651-7

Links

Govaerts, R. et al. 2020. Schistotylus in Kew Science Plants of the World online. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published on the internet. Accessed: 2020 February 27. Reference page.
Govaerts, R. et al. 2020. Schistotylus in World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published on the internet. Accessed: 2020 February 27. Reference page.
International Plant Names Index. 2020. Schistotylus. Published online. Accessed: 27 February 2020.
The Plant List 2013. Schistotylus in The Plant List Version 1.1. Published on the internet. Accessed: 2020 February 27.
Tropicos.org 2020. Schistotylus. Missouri Botanical Garden. Published on the internet. Accessed: 2020 February 27.

Vernacular names
Schistotylus purpuratus, commonly known as purple sprites,[3] is the only species in the genus Schistotylus from the orchid family, Orchidaceae. It is a small epiphytic orchid with up to six crowded, linear leaves and up to ten cup-shaped, pale green flowers with purple marking and a mostly white labellum. It grows in rainforest and swampy heath in eastern Australia.

Description

Schistotylus purpuratus is a small epiphytic herb, usually with only a single growth. The stems are 20–30 millimetres (0.79–1.2 in) long with between two and six crowded, linear to narrow elliptic leaves 20–40 millimetres (0.79–1.6 in) long and 2–3 millimetres (0.079–0.12 in) wide. Between four and ten fragrant, cup-shaped, pale green flowers with purple blotches, 5–6 millimetres (0.20–0.24 in) long and 4–5 millimetres (0.16–0.20 in) wide are borne on a thin, arching flowering stem 25–40 millimetres (0.98–1.6 in) long. The sepals are about 3 millimetres (0.12 in) long and 1.5 millimetres (0.059 in) wide, the petals are slightly shorter and narrower. The labellum is white with yellow markings, about 5 millimetres (0.20 in) long and 2 millimetres (0.079 in) wide with three lobes. The side lobes have a beak-like front and the middle lobe is short and thickened with a spur 3 millimetres (0.12 in) long. Flowering occurs from August to October.[3][4]
Taxonomy and naming

Purple sprites was first formally described in 1938 by Herman Rupp who originally gave it the name Cleisostoma gemmatum and published the description in The Victorian Naturalist.[5][6] That name was, however a nomen illegitimum because it had been used for a different species, and Rupp changed in the name to Cleisostoma purpuratum in a later edition of the same journal.[7][8] In 1941, Rupp changed the name again to Schistotylus purpuratus.[9][6] The specific epithet (purpuratus) is derived from the Latin word purpura meaning "a purple dye",[10]: 643  referring to "the striking reddish purple suffusion of the column.[8]
Distribution and habitat

Schistotylus purpuratus grows on shrubs and the twigs of trees in forest, heath and scrub. It is found between Nerang in Queensland and the Carrai National Park in New South Wales.[3][4]
See also

List of Orchidaceae genera

References

"Schistotylus purpuratus". World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (WCSP). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
"Schistotypus". World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (WCSP). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
Jones, David L. (2006). A complete guide to native orchids of Australia including the island territories. Frenchs Forest, N.S.W.: New Holland. p. 452. ISBN 1877069124.
Weston, Peter H. "Schistotylus purpuratus". Royal Botanic Garden Sydney. Retrieved 6 January 2019.
"Cleisostoma gemmatum". APNI. Retrieved 6 January 2019.
Rupp, Herman (1938). "A new epiphytic orchid from Dorrigo". The Victorian Naturalist. 54: 112–113. Retrieved 6 January 2019.
"Cleisostoma purpuratum". APNI. Retrieved 6 January 2019.
Rupp, Herman (1938). "Cleisostoma gemmatum". The Victorian Naturalist. 54: 190. Retrieved 6 January 2019.
"Schistotylus purpuratus". APNI. Retrieved 6 January 2019.
Brown, Roland Wilbur (1956). The Composition of Scientific Words. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press.