Oberonia titania

Oberonia titania, commonly known as the soldier's crest orchid or red-flowered king of the fairies, is a plant in the orchid family and is a clump-forming epiphyte. It has between four and ten leaves in a fan-like arrangement on each shoot and up to 350 tiny pinkish to red flowers arranged in whorls around the flowering stem. It is found in Java, New Caledonia and eastern Australia including Norfolk Island.

Description
Oberonia titania is an epiphytic, clump-forming herb. Each shoot has between four and ten fleshy, lance-shaped to egg-shaped, green or  greyish leaves  long and  wide with their bases overlapping. Between 50 and 350 pinkish to red flowers about  long and  wide are arranged in whorls of between six and eight on an arching to hanging flowering stem  long. The sepals and petals are egg-shaped, spread widely apart from each other and about  long. The labellum is cup shaped, about  long and  wide with three lobes. Flowering occurs between January and June.

Taxonomy and naming
Oberonia titania was first formally described in 1859 by John Lindley who published the description in Folia Orchidaceae.

Distribution and habitat
The soldier's crest orchid grows on trees in rainforest and moist gullies in Java, New Caledonia, New South Wales including Norfolk Island and in Queensland.

Conservation
This orchid is classed as "vulnerable" under the New South Wales Government Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016. The main threats to the species are habitat degradation and loss, and illegal collecting.

References

External links 

Photo of a flower raceme

titania
Category:Orchids of Oceania
Category:Orchids of New Caledonia
Category:Orchids of Indonesia
Category:Orchids of Java
Category:Orchids of Queensland
Category:Orchids of New South Wales
Category:Flora of Norfolk Island
Category:Plants described in 1859