Corybas globulus is a species of helmet orchid endemic to a small area of the New England Tableland in northern New South Wales. It is a relatively small orchid with a bright green, heart-shaped leaf and a bulbous, dark reddish purple flower.
Corybas globulus is a terrestrial, tuberous, herbaceous plant that forms loose clonal colonies. It has a single heart-shaped leaf NaNsigfig=1NaNsigfig=1 long, NaNsigfig=1NaNsigfig=1 wide and bright green with reddish edges and lower surface. The flower is more or less spherical and NaNsigfig=2NaNsigfig=2 on a pinkish peduncle NaNsigfig=1NaNsigfig=1 long. The dorsal sepal is dark reddish purple, NaNsigfig=1NaNsigfig=1 long on a stalk NaNsigfig=2NaNsigfig=2 long. The lateral sepals are NaNsigfig=2NaNsigfig=2 long and the petals are about 5sigfig=1NaNsigfig=1 long, all in close contact with the labellum. The labellum is about as long as the dorsal sepal, tube-shaped and has three lobes. There are crowded rows of pink to red calli about 1sigfig=1NaNsigfig=1 long in a ridge about 2sigfig=1NaNsigfig=1 wide around the edge of the labellum. Flowering occurs from early May to mid June.[1]
This orchid was first formally described in 2016 by David Jones and Lachlan Copeland who gave it the name Anzybas globulus. The description was published in Australian Orchid Review from a specimen collected in the Washpool National Park.[2] In the same year, the same authorities changed the name to Corybas globulus "to allow for the different taxonomic views held at generic level within the subtribe".[3] The specific epithet (globulus) is the diminutive form of the Latin word globus meaning "ball" or "sphere",[4] hence "little sphere" in reference to the shape of the flower of this orchid.
The orchid grows in open forest with a dense shrubby understorey. It is only known from the Washpool and Gibraltar Range National Parks.