About Praecoxanthus aphyllus (Benth.) Hopper & A.P.Br.
Praecoxanthus aphyllus is a terrestrial, perennial, deciduous, sympodial herb. It has a few inconspicuous fine roots, and a tuber that is partly surrounded by a fibrous sheath. The tuber produces a replacement "dropper" that develops into a daughter tuber the following year. Non-flowering individuals produce a single stalkless, egg-shaped leaf. This leaf is 20–40 mm (0.8–2 in) long, 8–20 mm (0.3–0.8 in) wide, glabrous, and marked with prominent white veins. The leaf of flowering plants is reduced to a tiny bract located at the base of the stem. A single resupinate flower grows at the top of a wiry, glabrous stem that is 20–40 cm (8–20 in) high. The flower is 2–4 cm (0.8–2 in) wide and long. The three sepals and two petals are spreading, creamy-white, free, and similar in size and shape to one another. As is typical for orchids, one petal is highly modified to form the central labellum. The labellum has three lobes, and is colored purple, green, and yellow, with two irregular rows of stalked, club-like calli. The flower's sexual reproductive structures are fused to the column, which has wing-like structures on its sides and is widest at the base. Flowering occurs between March and May. After flowering, the plant produces a non-fleshy, hairy, dehiscent capsule that contains a large number of seeds. This orchid most commonly grows in sandy soils in woodland, but near Esperance it tends to grow in low heath with sub-soil moisture. Unlike some other orchid species, it does not usually grow in colonies, and individual plants are well-spaced. It occurs between Pinjarra and Albany, and in a coastal strip extending east to Esperance, within the Avon Wheatbelt, Esperance Plains, Jarrah Forest, Mallee, Swan Coastal Plain and Warren biogeographic regions. This leafless orchid produces highly fragrant flowers that attract native bees. The yellow calli on its purple labellum resemble pollen-bearing stamens, but the flower produces no nectar, attracting insects to a reward that does not exist.
