Pterostylis alveata

Pterostylis alveata, commonly known as the coastal greenhood, is a species of orchid endemic to south-eastern Australia. As with similar greenhoods, the flowering plants differ from those which are not flowering. In this species, the non-flowering plants have a rosette of leaves flat on the ground but the flowering plants have a single small, shiny green and white flower with leaves on the flowering spike.

Coastal greenhood
Pterostylis alveata growing in Ben Boyd National Park
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Order: Asparagales
Family: Orchidaceae
Subfamily: Orchidoideae
Tribe: Cranichideae
Genus: Pterostylis
Species:
P. alveata
Binomial name
Pterostylis alveata
Synonyms[1]

Description

Pterostylis alveata is a terrestrial, perennial, deciduous, herb with an underground tuber and when not flowering, a rosette of dark green leaves, each leaf 10–25 mm long and 5–15 mm wide. Flowering plants have a single flower 12–15 mm long and 7–10 mm wide borne on a spike 100–200 mm high with between three and five spreading stem leaves. The flowers are shiny green and white. The dorsal sepal and petals are fused, forming a hood or "galea" over the column. The dorsal sepal curves forward with a pointed tip. The lateral sepals are held closely against the galea, have a thread-like tip 12–15 mm long and a flat, protruding sinus between their bases. The labellum is 8–9 mm long, 3 mm wide, dark brown and blunt, just visible above the sinus. Flowering occurs from May to June.[2][3][4]

Taxonomy and naming

Pterostylis alveata was first formally described in 1939 by John ("Ros") Garnet from a specimen collected on Snake Island. The description was published in The Victorian Naturalist.[1][5] The specific epithet (alveata) is a Latin word meaning "hollowed out".[6]

Distribution and habitat

The coastal greenhood grows among grasses in moist coastal woodland and scrub between Melbourne in Victoria and Nelson Bay in New South Wales.[2][3][4]

References
  1. "Pterostylis alveata". APNI. Retrieved 2 May 2017.
  2. Jones, David L. (2006). A complete guide to native orchids of Australia including the island territories. Frenchs Forest, N.S.W.: New Holland. p. 288. ISBN 978-1877069123.
  3. Jones, David L. "Pterostylis alveata". Royal Botanic Garden Sydney: plantnet. Retrieved 2 May 2017.
  4. Jeanes, Jeff. "Pterostylis alveata". Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria: vicflora. Retrieved 2 May 2017.
  5. Garnet, J. Ros (1939). "A new species of the genus Pterostylis". The Victorian Naturalist. 56 (6): 91–94. Retrieved 2 May 2017.
  6. Brown, Roland Wilbur (1956). The Composition of Scientific Words. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press. p. 72.
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