Dainty greenhood | |
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Pterostylis reflexa at Apsley Falls | |
Scientific classification
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Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Monocots |
Order: | Asparagales |
Family: | Orchidaceae |
Subfamily: | Orchidoideae |
Tribe: | Cranichideae |
Genus: | Pterostylis |
Species: | P. reflexa
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Binomial name | |
Pterostylis reflexa | |
Synonyms [2] | |
Pterostylis reflexa, commonly known as the dainty greenhood, is a species of orchid endemic to New South Wales. As with similar greenhoods, the flowering plants differ from those which are not flowering. The non-flowering plants have a rosette of leaves flat on the ground but the flowering plants have a single flower with leaves on the flowering stem. This greenhood has a relatively large white, green and light brown flower with a long, curved dorsal sepal and a protruding labellum.
Pterostylis reflexa is a terrestrial, perennial, deciduous, herb with an underground tuber and when not flowering, a rosette of between three and seven egg-shaped leaves lying flat on the ground. Each leaf is 10–25 mm (0.4–1 in) long and 6–12 mm (0.2–0.5 in) wide. Flowering plants have a single sickle-shaped flower, 18–25 mm (0.7–1 in) long and 7–9 mm (0.3–0.4 in) wide on a flowering stem 100–200 mm (4–8 in) high with between three and five stem leaves. The flowers are white, green and light brown. The dorsal sepal and petals are fused, forming a hood or "galea" over the column, the dorsal sepal with a narrow tip 4–6 mm (0.16–0.24 in) long. The lateral sepals are in loose contact with the galea and have erect, thread-like tips 25–35 mm (0.98–1.4 in) long. There is a curved, V-shaped sinus between their bases. The labellum is 14–16 mm (0.55–0.63 in) long, about 4 mm (0.2 in) wide, reddish-brown and curved with about one-third protruding above the sinus. Flowering occurs from March to June. [3] [4]
Pterostylis reflexa was first formally described in 1810 by Robert Brown and the description was published in Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen. [1] [5] The specific epithet (reflexa) is a Latin word meaning "bent or turned back." [6]
The dainty greenhood mainly grows on ridges and slopes in coastal and near-coastal forest between about Taree and Nowra. [3] [4]
Media related to
Pterostylis reflexa at Wikimedia Commons