The 
South Australian 
VOL. XVIII. ADELAIDE, APRIL 30, 1937. Nos. 3 and 4. 
DIURIS PALACHILA Rogers. 
By R. S. Rogers. M.A., M.D., D.Sc. 
The habitat of this species Is restricted to South Australia 
and Victoria. At one time it was regarded as a h\'bridized form 
of Diuris macidata, Sm., but further knowledge of its distribution 
and the constant character of its botanical features have disposed 
of this idea. It is much less common in Its occurrence than 
D. maculata, which it superficially resembles. In both species 
the flowers are yellow with dark reddish-brown markings; but 
whereas in the latter plant, these markings are definite and rather 
extensive, assuming the form of rounded or crescentic blotches 
or wide bands of colour, in the other species they are relativelv 
inconspicuous and occur on the perianth segments as mere dots 
or short striae. Other important distinctions are to be found in 
the labellum, the side-lobes of which are about as long as the 
middle lobe in D, maculata but hardly more than half the length 
of the middle lobe in D. palachila. Crossed sepals are almost 
a constant feature in the former species, but occur with extreme 
rarity in the latter. 
(This species is described in the Flora of South Australia (J. 
M. Black), 1922, p. 144, where the distribution is given as 
follows: — National Park^ Belair; Mount Lofty Range; Angaston; 
McLaren Vale; Golden Grove and Robe. The colored plate 
accompanying Dr. Rogers’ article above has been produced from 
a painting by Miss R. C. Fiveash, the original of which has been 
kindly lent by Dr. R. S. Rogers who differentiated and described 
this species. It is with special satisfaction that we are able to 
reproduce a coloured plate of this orchid which has not been 
previously illustrated. Dr. Rogers has been the leading author- 
ity on Australian orchids for many years and has named about 
22 species in this State besides many others in Australia and 
Papua. — E. FI. Ising). 
