Crowded banded greenhood facts for kids

The Crowded Banded Greenhood (scientific name: Pterostylis atrosanguinea) is a special type of plant in the orchid family. It grows only in the south-west part of Western Australia. This means it's endemic there, found nowhere else naturally!

These plants can look different depending on the time of year. When they are not flowering, they have a group of leaves that look like a circle, called a rosette. When they are ready to bloom, they grow a tall stem with leaves and up to twenty flowers. These flowers are usually dark reddish to blackish brown. They also have clear, see-through white parts. The special lip of the flower, called the labellum, is dark reddish black and covered with short, stiff hairs.

What Does It Look Like?

The Crowded Banded Greenhood is a plant that lives for many years. It's a perennial herb, which means it comes back each year. It also has an underground tuber, like a small potato, that helps it store food.

Leaves and Stems

• Plants that are not flowering have a rosette of five to eight egg-shaped leaves.
• Each leaf is about 10–20 mm (0.4–0.8 in) long and 5–14 mm (0.2–0.6 in) wide.
• These leaves grow on a short stalk, about 10–30 mm (0.4–1 in) long.
• When the plant flowers, it grows a stem that is 200–400 mm (8–20 in) tall.
• This stem has eight to fifteen lance-shaped or egg-shaped leaves.
• These stem leaves are 25–60 mm (1–2 in) long and 10–18 mm (0.4–0.7 in) wide. They often have reddish tips.

The Flowers

• The flowers are dark reddish to blackish brown with clear white areas.
• They are crowded together near the top of the flowering stem.
• Each flower is about 20–25 mm (0.8–1 in) long and 12–15 mm (0.5–0.6 in) wide.
• The top part of the flower, called the dorsal sepal, and the petals form a hood. This hood covers the central part of the flower.
• The dorsal sepal is 16–22 mm (0.6–0.9 in) long.
• The petals are 12–15 mm (0.5–0.6 in) long and about 7 mm (0.3 in) wide.
• The side parts, called the lateral sepals, point downwards. They are joined together for most of their length. They form a wide, oval shape about 14–18 mm (0.6–0.7 in) long and 12–15 mm (0.5–0.6 in) wide.
• The labellum (the special lip) is oblong or egg-shaped. It's about 6–7 mm (0.24–0.28 in) long and 4 mm (0.2 in) wide.
• The labellum is dark reddish black and covered with short, stiff hairs.
• You can see these beautiful flowers from late May to early August.

How It Got Its Name

The Crowded Banded Greenhood was first officially described in 2017. Two botanists, David Jones and Christopher French, gave it the name Urochilus atrosanguineus. They wrote about it in a magazine called Australian Orchid Review. They studied a plant they found near Waroona.

In 2018, the same scientists changed its name to Pterostylis atrosanguinea. They did this because different scientists have different ideas about how to group orchids. Before this, people often called it Pterostylis sp. 'crowded'.

The second part of its scientific name, atrosanguinea, comes from two Latin words:

• Ater means 'dark'.
• Sanguineus means 'red'.

This name perfectly describes the dark reddish color of its flowers!

Where Does It Grow?

The Crowded Banded Greenhood grows in Western Australia. You can find it between Wongan Hills and Katanning. It likes to live in forests and woodlands.