Pterostylis clivicola facts for kids

Pterostylis clivicola is a special plant from the orchid family. It grows only in a small area near the border between New South Wales and Victoria in Australia. This means it is endemic to that spot. It has a group of leaves that grow in a circle, called a rosette. It can have up to fourteen green flowers. Each flower has a special lip, called a labellum, which has a dark green, beak-like part.

What This Orchid Looks Like

Pterostylis clivicola is a plant that grows from an underground part called a tuber. It is a perennial plant, meaning it lives for more than two years. It is also deciduous, so its leaves fall off at certain times. This plant has a rosette of five to eight egg-shaped leaves. Each leaf is about 6 to 20 millimetres (0.24 to 0.79 inches) long and 3 to 8 millimetres (0.12 to 0.31 inches) wide.

When the plant flowers, a stem grows up to 50 to 160 millimetres (2.0 to 6.3 inches) tall. This stem has three to fourteen flowers. The flowers are a see-through green color with dark green lines. 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 pointed and curves forward. The side sepals point downwards and are joined together for part of their length. This joined part is about 4 to 5 millimetres (0.16 to 0.20 inches) long and 5 to 6 millimetres (0.20 to 0.24 inches) wide.

The labellum (the special lip) is green and about 2 millimetres (0.079 inches) long. It has a greenish-black part with three ridges. This orchid flowers from October to December.

How This Orchid Got Its Name

This greenhood orchid was first officially described in 2008. Two botanists, David Jones and Gary Backhouse, gave it its scientific name. David Jones first named it Hymenochilus clivicola. He wrote about it in a magazine called The Orchadian. He found a sample of the plant near Delegate.

Later, in 2010, Gary Backhouse changed its name to Pterostylis clivicola. The second part of the name, clivicola, comes from Latin words. Clivus means "hill" or "sloping hillside". The ending -cola means "dweller" or "one who lives in". So, clivicola means "hill dweller", which describes where this plant likes to live.

Where This Orchid Lives

Pterostylis clivicola is very rare. It is only known to grow in one small area. This area is near Bendoc in Victoria. There are only about twenty plants known in this group. They grow in grassy areas.