Prasophyllum colemaniarum R.S.Rogers (1923:337)
Lilac leek-orchid
Taxonomy & Nomenclature
Synonym/s: Paraprasophyllum colemaniarum (R.S.Rogers) M.A.Clem. & D.L.Jones in Austral. Orchid Rev. 84(5): 34 (2019); Prasophyllum colemanae; Prasophyllum colemaniae
Taxonomy
Considered a synonym of Prasophyllum odoratum by (Humphreys et al., 2019).
"very closely related to P. spicatum and P.truncatum, but differing in its hardly recurved labellum, pinkish flowers and pouched base to the lateral sepals"
(Silcock et al., 2019:SM:8)
Nomenclature
"Species was originally named P. colemanae, but epithet changed to feminine colemaniarum in 2018"
(Silcock et al., 2019:SM:8)
Conservation Status
Missing (Backhouse et al., 2016:32,115 [as "probably extinct"]; Silcock et al., 2019:SM:8, 2020:7, 2021:7 [each as "probably extinct"]) or Extinct (Backhouse & Cameron, 2005:65; DEPI, 2014; POWO, 2023; Christenhusz & Govaerts, 2025; VicFlora, 2025) or Invalid (synonym of P. odoratum) (Humphreys et al., 2019)
Last (and only) record: 1922 (VicFlora, 2025); 1924 (Silcock et al., 2019:SM:8, 2020:7, 2021:7; Christenhusz & Govaerts, 2025)
"Site of population was regularly visited until the 1970s when it was destroyed and plant not seen; eastern suburbs of Melbourne very well botanically searched area... site of collection, a rail reserve, was well-known and regularly visited up to the 1970s when it was destroyed by the upgrade of the rail line"
(Silcock et al., 2019:SM:8)
Distribution & Habitat
near Ringwood, Victoria, Australia
Biology & Ecology
Hypodigm
Media
References
Original scientific description:
Other references:
Backhouse, Gary N., Bates, Robert J., Brown, Andrew P. and Copeland, Lachlan M. (2016). Checklist of the Orchids of Australia Including its Island Territories. Version 1. Unpublished. 139 pp.
Backhouse, Gary N., Bates, Robert J., Brown, Andrew P. and Copeland, Lachlan M. (2019). Checklist of the Orchids of Australia Including its Island Territories, second edition. Melbourne. 148 pp.
Backhouse, Gary and Cameron, David. (2005). Application of IUCN 2001 Red List Categories in Determining the Conservation Status of Native Orchids of Victoria, Australia. Selbyana 26(1-2), Proceedings of the Second International Orchid Conservation Congress (2005), pp. 58-74. https://www.jstor.org/stable/41760174
Bates, R. J. (1994). Prasophyllum, pp. 869-886. In: Walsh, N. G. and Entwisle, T. J. (eds.). Flora of Victoria Vol. 2, Ferns and Allied Plants, Conifers and Monocotyledons. Melbourne, VIC: Inkata Press.
Christenhusz, Maarten J. M. and Govaerts, Rafaël. (2023). Uitgestorven. Op plantenjacht rond de wereld: 1-511. Sterck & De Vreese.
Christenhusz, Maarten J. M. and Govaerts, Rafaël. (2025). Plant extinction in the Anthropocene. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 207(3): 183-196. https://doi.org/10.1093/botlinnean/boae045 [Appendix S1]
Clements, Mark A. and Jones, David L. (2019). Notes on Australasian Orchids 5: Paraprasophyllum, a new genus in Prasophyllinae (Diurideae). Australian Orchid Review 84(5): 25-38 [34].
DEPI (Department of Environment and Primary Industries). (2014). Advisory list of rare of threatened plants in Victoria - 2014. Melbourne, VIC: Department of Environment and Primary Industries.
DEWHA (Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts). (2008). Approved Conservation Advice for Prasophyllum colemaniae (Lilac Leek-orchid). Canberra: Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts.
Govaerts, R. (2003). World Checklist of Monocotyledons Database in ACCESS: 1-71827. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
Humphreys, Aelys M., Govaerts, Rafaël, Ficinski, Sarah Z., Lughadha, Eimear Nic and Vorontsova, Maria S. (2019). Global dataset shows geography and life form predict modern plant extinction and rediscovery. Nature Ecology & Evolution 3: 1043-1047. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-019-0906-2 [Supplementary Dataset 1]
POWO. (2023). Prasophyllum colemaniarum R.S.Rogers. Plants of the World Online (online resource). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, United Kingdom. Available at: https://powo.science.kew.org/ [Accessed 8 December 2023]
Silcock, Jen L., Field, Ashley R., Walsh, Neville G. and Fensham, Roderick J. (2019). To name those lost: assessing extinction likelihood in the Australian vascular flora. Oryx 54(2): 167-177. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0030605318001357 [Supplementary Material]
Silcock, Jen L., Collingwood, Teghan, Llorens, Tanya and Fensham, Rod. (2020). Action Plan for Australia's Imperilled Plants 2020. Brisbane: NESP Threatened Species Recovery Hub. 339 pp.
Silcock, Jen L., Collingwood, Teghan, Llorens, Tanya and Fensham, Rod. (2021). Action Plan for Australia's Imperilled Plants 2021. Brisbane: NESP Threatened Species Recovery Hub. 342 pp.
VicFlora. (2025). Flora of Victoria, Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. Available online: https://vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au [accessed on 2 August 2025]
WCMC. (1996). Threatened plant database of the World Conservation Monitoring Centre. W.C.M.C., Cambridge, U.K.
Woinarski, John C. Z., Braby, M. F., Burbidge, A. A., Coates, D., Garnett, S. T., Fensham, R. J., Legge, S. M., McKenzie, N. L., Silcock, J L. and Murphy, B. P. (2019). Reading the black book: The number, timing, distribution and causes of listed extinctions in Australia. Biological Conservation 239: 108261. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2019.108261