Dainty greenhood
Pterostylis reflexa at Apsley Falls
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Order: Asparagales
Family: Orchidaceae
Subfamily: Orchidoideae
Tribe: Cranichideae
Genus: Pterostylis
Species:
P. reflexa
Binomial name
Pterostylis reflexa
Synonyms[2]

Diplodium reflexum (R.Br.) D.L.Jones & M.A.Clem.

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.

Description

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]

Taxonomy and naming

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]

Distribution and habitat

The dainty greenhood mainly grows on ridges and slopes in coastal and near-coastal forest between about Taree and Nowra.[3][4]

References

  1. 1 2 "Pterostylis reflexa". APNI. Retrieved 10 July 2017.
  2. ↑ "Pterostylis reflexa". World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (WCSP). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
  3. 1 2 Jones, David L. (2006). A complete guide to native orchids of Australia including the island territories. Frenchs Forest, N.S.W.: New Holland. p. 292. ISBN 978-1877069123.
  4. 1 2 Jones, David L. "Pterostylis reflexa". Royal Botanic Garden Sydney: plantnet. Retrieved 10 July 2017.
  5. ↑ Brown, Robert (1810). Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen. London. p. 327. Retrieved 10 July 2017.
  6. ↑ Brown, Roland Wilbur (1956). The Composition of Scientific Words. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press. p. 652.

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