Dainty greenhood facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Dainty greenhood |
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| Pterostylis reflexa at Apsley Falls | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Genus: |
Pterostylis
|
| Species: |
reflexa
|
| Synonyms | |
|
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.
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. The specific epithet (reflexa) is a Latin word meaning "bent or turned back."
Distribution and habitat
The dainty greenhood mainly grows on ridges and slopes in coastal and near-coastal forest between about Taree and Nowra.
