Pterostylis barringtonensis

Pterostylis barringtonensis, commonly known as the Barrington leafy greenhood, is a plant in the orchid family Orchidaceae and is endemic to New South Wales. As with similar greenhoods, the flowering plants differ from those which are not flowering. The non-flowering plants have a rosette of leaves on a short stalk but the flowering plants lack a rosette and have up to seven dark green flowers on a flowering stem with stem leaves. It is only known from Barrington Tops.

Side view of flower

Barrington leafy greenhood
Pterostylis barringtonensis in the Barrington Tops State Forest
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Order: Asparagales
Family: Orchidaceae
Subfamily: Orchidoideae
Tribe: Cranichideae
Genus: Pterostylis
Species:
P. barringtonensis
Binomial name
Pterostylis barringtonensis
(D.L.Jones) G.N.Backh.[1]
Synonyms[2]

Bunochilus barringtonensis D.L.Jones

Description

Pterostylis barringtonensis, is a terrestrial, perennial, deciduous, herb with an underground tuber. Non-flowering plants have a rosette of between three and six leaves, each leaf 15–50 mm (0.6–2 in) long and 4–8 mm (0.2–0.3 in) wide on a stalk 30–60 mm (1–2 in) high. Flowering plants lack a rosette but have up to seven flowers on a flowering spike 200–300 mm (8–10 in) high with between five and seven linear stem leaves which are 30–65 mm (1–3 in) long and 3–6 mm (0.1–0.2 in) wide. The flowers are 14–18 mm (0.6–0.7 in) long, 4–6 mm (0.16–0.24 in) wide. The dorsal sepal and petals are joined to form a hood called the "galea" over the column. The galea is dark green with darker green lines and a brown, tapered tip. The lateral sepals turn downwards and are 11–13 mm (0.4–0.5 in) long, 6–8 mm (0.2–0.3 in) wide and joined for about half their length. The labellum is 6–7 mm (0.2–0.3 in) long, about 3 mm (0.1 in) wide and brown with a dark stripe along its mid-line. Flowering occurs from June to August.[3][4]

Taxonomy and naming

The Barrington greenhood was first formally described in 2006 by David Jones who gave it the name Bunochilus barringtonensis. The description was published in Australian Orchid Research from a specimen collected in the Barrington Tops National Park.[5] In 2010, Gary Backhouse changed the name to Pterostylis barringtonensis.[1] The specific epithet (barringtonensis) refers to the area where this greenhood grows with the Latin suffix -ensis meaning "place for" or "where",[6] referring to Barrington Tops.[4]

Distribution and habitat

Pterostylis barringtonensis occurs in moist places in tall forest in the Barrington Tops area.[3][7]

References
  1. "Pterostylis barringtonensis". APNI. Retrieved 20 June 2017.
  2. "Pterostylis barringtonensis". World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (WCSP). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
  3. Jones, David L. (2006). A complete guide to native orchids of Australia including the island territories. Frenchs Forest, N.S.W.: New Holland. pp. 314–315. ISBN 978-1877069123.
  4. Jones, David L. (2006). "New taxa of Australasian Orchidaceae". Australian Orchid Research. 5: 121.
  5. "Bunochilus barringtonensis". APNI. Retrieved 20 June 2017.
  6. Brown, Roland Wilbur (1956). The Composition of Scientific Words. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press. p. 45.
  7. "Pterostylis barringtonensis". Royal Botanic Garden Sydney: plantnet. Retrieved 25 June 2017.
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