Common name: Large Tongue Orchid
Cryptostylis subulata (Labill.) Rchb.f. APNI* 
Description: Terrestrial herb.
Leaves 7–35 cm long, lamina lanceolate, 5–20 cm long, 10–30 mm wide, both surfaces dark green to yellow green; petiole 1–15 cm long.
Inflorescences erect, 15–80 cm long, 2–14-flowered. Sepals 15–30 mm long, green. Labellum narrow-oblong, 15–35 mm long, 5–10 mm wide, not markedly contracted, straight, spreading or angled downwards, with revolute margins forming a tube, upper surface minutely hairy, lower surface glabrous, usually red brown, with 2 thick and 2 finer dark longitudinal lines on the upper surface, ending in a prominent, subapical, dark, 2-lobed callus. Column wings connected behind the anther, with glandular fringed margins.
Flowering: October–March
Distribution and occurrence: Grows most commonly in swamp-heath but also grows in sclerophyll woodland or forest often on sandy soils, widespread on the coast and tablelands and inland to the Blue Mtns.
NSW subdivisions: NC, CC, SC, NT, CT, ST
Other Australian states: Qld Vic. Tas. S.A.
Text by P. H. Weston
Taxon concept: Flora of NSW 4 (1993)
APNI* Provides a link to the Australian Plant Name Index (hosted by the Australian National Botanic Gardens) for comprehensive bibliographic data
***The AVH map option provides a detailed interactive Australia wide distribution map drawn from collections held by all major Australian herbaria participating in the Australian Virtual Herbarium project.
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