Pterostylis mutica
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Midget greenhood | |
|---|---|
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| Pterostylis mutica growing near Lake King, Western Australia | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Monocots |
| Order: | Asparagales |
| Family: | Orchidaceae |
| Subfamily: | Orchidoideae |
| Tribe: | Cranichideae |
| Genus: | Pterostylis |
| Species: | P. mutica |
| Binomial name | |
| Pterostylis mutica | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
Pterostylis mutica, commonly known as the midget greenhood, is a plant in the orchid family Orchidaceae and is endemic to Australia, occurring in all states but not the Northern Territory. There is a rosette of leaves at the base of the flowering stem and up to fifteen pale green flowers which have a sensitive labellum.
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Pterostylis mutica, is a terrestrial, perennial, deciduous, herb with an underground tuber. There is a rosette of between six and twelve, egg-shaped leaves, each leaf 10–30 mm (0.4–1 in) long and 5–15 mm (0.2–0.6 in) wide at the base of the plant. Between two and twenty well-spaced flowers are borne on a flowering spike 150–350 mm (6–10 in) high with five to ten stem leaves wrapped around it. The flowers are pale green, 8–10 mm (0.3–0.4 in) long and about 5 mm (0.2 in) wide. The dorsal sepal and petals are joined to form a hood called the "galea" over the column. The galea is curved with a pointed tip turning downwards. The lateral sepals turn downwards and are about 7 mm (0.3 in) long, 8 mm (0.3 in) wide, cupped and joined for most of their length. The labellum is about 4 mm (0.2 in) long, about 2 mm (0.08 in) wide and whitish-green with a dark green appendage. Flowering occurs from July to December.[2][3][4][5][6][7]
Taxonomy and naming
Pterostylis mutica was first formally described in 1810 by Robert Brown from a specimen collected near Port Jackson and the description was published in Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen.[1] The specific epithet (mutica) is a Latin word meaning "shortened" or "docked"[8] referring to the blunt petals and sepals.[6]