Pachychila pubescens, commonly known as pink kunai orchid[1] or as 粉口兰 (fen kou lan),[2] is a plant in the orchid family. It is native to areas from Asia through Southeast Asia to New Guinea and northern Australia. It is a deciduous, terrestrial herb with one or two grass-like leaves and up to ten dull pink, more or less drooping flowers. It grows in wet, grassy places in forests and woodlands.
Pachystoma pubescens is a deciduous, terrestrial herb with one or two dark green, linear, pleated, sharply pointed leaves NaNsigfig=2NaNsigfig=2 long and NaNsigfig=1NaNsigfig=1 wide. Between four and ten resupinate, dull pink, more or less tubular, drooping flowers NaNsigfig=1NaNsigfig=1 long and NaNsigfig=2NaNsigfig=2wide are borne on a flowering stem NaNsigfig=1NaNsigfig=1 tall. The dorsal sepal is NaNsigfig=1NaNsigfig=1 long, about 4sigfig=1NaNsigfig=1 wide and the lateral sepals are a similar length but NaNsigfig=2NaNsigfig=2 wide with a humped base. The petals are a similar length to the sepals but narrower. The labellum is NaNsigfig=1NaNsigfig=1 long and NaNsigfig=1NaNsigfig=1 wide with three lobes. The middle lobe has a square tip and pimply surface and the side lobes curve upwards. Flowering occurs in November and December in Australia and March to September in Asia.[3] [4]
Pachystoma pubescens was first described in 1825 by Carl Ludwig Blume, in his Bijdragen tot de Flora van Nederlandsch Indie.[5] [6] The specific epithet (pubescens) is derived from the Latin word pubesco meaning "put on the down of puberty"[7] with the ending -escens meaning "beginning of" or "becoming", hence "pubescent".
The pink kunal orchid often grows with grasses such as kunai grass (Imperata cylindrica) in woodland and forest areas that are seasonally wet. It occurs in China, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, New Guinea, the Philippines, Vietnam and in Australia where it is found in northern parts of the Northern Territory and in Tropical North Queensland.