Bangham rustyhood facts for kids

The Bangham rustyhood (scientific name: Pterostylis ferruginea) is a special kind of orchid plant. It's found only in a small area between South Australia and Victoria in Australia. This orchid has a group of leaves at its base, like a circle, and when it blooms, it can have up to ten tall, dark green and see-through white flowers. These flowers have a part called a labellum that looks a bit like an insect!

What the Bangham Rustyhood Looks Like

The Bangham rustyhood is a plant that grows from an underground tuber. Think of a tuber like a small, round storage part, similar to a potato. It's a perennial plant, meaning it lives for more than two years, and it's also deciduous, so its leaves might die back in some seasons.

It usually has a group of six to ten egg-shaped leaves at its base, forming a "rosette." These leaves are about 15 to 60 millimeters (about 0.6 to 2.4 inches) long and 6 to 20 millimeters (about 0.2 to 0.8 inches) wide. When the plant is ready to flower, it grows a tall stem. The leaves at the base often dry up by the time the flowers appear.

The Flowers

Each flowering stem can grow up to 400 millimeters (about 16 inches) tall. It holds between two and ten dark green flowers. These flowers have parts that are translucent white, meaning you can see through them a little. Each flower is about 10 to 14 millimeters (about 0.4 to 0.6 inches) long and stands upright.

The top part of the flower, called the "galea," is like a hood. It's made from the dorsal sepal (a leaf-like part) and the petals. The dorsal sepal has a tiny, thread-like tip that points upwards, about 1 to 2 millimeters long. The lateral sepals, which are on the sides, point downwards and have tips that get narrower.

The most interesting part is the labellum. This is a fleshy part that looks like an insect. It's about 4 millimeters (0.16 inches) long and 2 millimeters (0.08 inches) wide. One end of the labellum is thicker, like an insect's "head," and has short hairs. Along its "body," it has four to eight longer hairs on each side. These orchids usually bloom from September to November.

How it Got its Name

This special orchid was first officially described in 2009 by a botanist named David Jones. He first called it Oligochaetochilus ferrugineus. He wrote about it in a publication called The Orchadian, after finding a sample in the Padthaway Conservation Park.

Then, in 2010, another botanist named Gary Backhouse changed its name to Pterostylis ferruginea. The second part of its scientific name, ferruginea, is a Latin word. It means "rusty" or "rust-coloured," which is why this orchid is often called the "Bangham rustyhood."

Where it Lives

The Bangham rustyhood is quite rare! It's only found in two specific areas: the Wimmera region in western Victoria and the very south-east part of South Australia. It likes to grow in places with "heathy forest" and "woodland." This means it lives in forests where there are also lots of small, shrubby plants, often called heath.