Corybas abellianus, commonly known as the nodding helmet orchid, is a species of terrestrial orchid endemic to tropical north Queensland. It forms small colonies and has single heart-shaped, dark green leaf with a silvery white lower side and a reddish purple flower with a curved dorsal sepal.
Corybas abellianus is a terrestrial, perennial, deciduous, herb with a single heart-shaped to almost round leaf NaNsigfig=1NaNsigfig=1 long and NaNsigfig=1NaNsigfig=1 wide. The leaf is dark green with silvery white veins on the upper surface and reddish on the lower side. The reddish purple flower is NaNsigfig=1NaNsigfig=1 long and NaNsigfig=2NaNsigfig=2 wide and leans downwards. The largest part of the flower is the dorsal sepal which is NaNsigfig=1NaNsigfig=1 long and NaNsigfig=1NaNsigfig=1 wide. The lateral sepals are narrow triangular, about 1sigfig=1NaNsigfig=1 long and turn downwards. The petals are less than 1sigfig=1NaNsigfig=1 long. The labellum is much shorter than the dorsal sepal, smooth and has a whitish tip. Flowering occurs from February to May.[1] [2]
Corybas abellianus was first formally described in 1955 by Alick Dockrill and the description was published in The North Queensland Naturalist.[3]
The nodding helmet orchid grows in small groups in rainforest on the higher parts of the Atherton Tableland and as far south as Tully Falls near Ravenshoe.