The flower's labellum resembles a female thynnid wasp so perfectly that males try to fly away with it, getting catapulted into the pollen. Each plant can wait years underground before flowering once.
Brundrm, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
An elaborate deception
The King-in-His-Carriage orchid, Drakaea glyptodon, employs a highly specialized pollination strategy known as sexual deception. The orchid's labellum—a modified petal—physically mimics the wingless female of a single wasp species, Zaspilothynnus trilobatus. This lure is so convincing in shape and dark maroon color that it fools male wasps into attempting to mate with it. To complete the ruse, the orchid releases a chemical cocktail of pyrazines that is identical to the sex pheromone emitted by a receptive female wasp.
When a male wasp grasps the labellum and tries to fly away, the hinged stem of the lure gives way. This action catapults the wasp backwards, forcing its thorax against the orchid's reproductive column where sticky pollen sacs, called pollinia, are located. After a few failed attempts, the frustrated wasp flies off, now carrying the orchid's pollen. For pollination to succeed, the wasp must be deceived by another Drakaea glyptodon flower, where the catapulting motion will deposit the pollen onto the stigma. This species-specific relationship, a product of co-evolution, is an efficient method of ensuring cross-pollination.
A life in waiting
The visible flower is a small part of the orchid's life. Drakaea glyptodon spends most of its existence as a single underground tuber. This subterranean life is made possible by a symbiotic relationship with a specific mycorrhizal fungus, which provides the orchid with necessary nutrients. This dependency is also what makes the orchid exceptionally difficult to cultivate. The plant produces a single, dull blue-grey heart-shaped leaf that lies flat on the ground. This leaf, about 10 millimeters in diameter, absorbs sunlight to replenish the tuber for the next flowering season.
The orchid's flowering stalk, or scape, is thin and grows between 10 and 35 centimeters tall, bearing just one flower. Flowering is a brief event, occurring between late August and late October. The plant grows in the sandy and gravelly soils of heathlands and near winter-wet swamps in the southwest of Western Australia. Its range extends from near Eneabba to east of Esperance. Although it is the most common and widespread of the ten Drakaea species, its specialized life cycle makes it vulnerable to habitat disruption. The Western Australian Government's Department of Parks and Wildlife currently classifies the species as "Not Threatened".
💡Fun Facts
The entire *Drakaea* genus, containing 10 species, is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia.
The specific epithet *glyptodon* was chosen by its discoverer, Robert D. FitzGerald, in 1882 because he thought the labellum resembled a miniature version of the extinct armored mammal, the Glyptodon.
The genus *Drakaea* is named in honor of Sarah Drake, a 19th-century botanical artist who illustrated orchids and other plants for English taxonomists.
The male thynnid wasps emerge from the ground before the flightless females, making them particularly susceptible to the orchid's deception as they search for the first available mates.
