Pterostylis foliata
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Slender greenhood | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Pterostylis foliata growing near Anglesea | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Monocots |
| Order: | Asparagales |
| Family: | Orchidaceae |
| Subfamily: | Orchidoideae |
| Tribe: | Cranichideae |
| Genus: | Pterostylis |
| Species: | P. foliata |
| Binomial name | |
| Pterostylis foliata | |
Pterostylis foliata, commonly known as the slender greenhood, is a species of orchid widespread in south-eastern Australia and New Zealand. Flowering plants have a rosette of three to six, dark green, crinkled leaves crowded around the flowering stem and a single dark green and brown flower with a deep V-shaped sinus between the lateral sepals.
Pterostylis foliata is a terrestrial, perennial, deciduous, herb with an underground tuber. Flowering plants have a rosette of between three and six dark green, crinkled leaves crowded around the base of the flowering stem, each leaf 30–80 mm long and 10–16 mm wide. A single flower 17–20 mm long and 7–9 mm wide is borne on a spike 120–300 mm high. The flowers are dark green and brown. The dorsal sepal and petals are fused, forming a hood or "galea" over the column but the dorsal sepal is longer than the petals and has a sharp point on its end. The lateral sepals are erect and in contact with the galea, and there is a deep, V-shaped sinus between the lateral sepals. The labellum is 12–15 mm long, 2–3 mm wide, brown and blunt and protrudes above the sinus. Flowering occurs from August to January.[2][3][4][5][6][7]