Pterostylis timorensis

Pterostylis timorensis is a plant in the orchid family Orchidaceae and is endemic to East Timor. Both flowering and non-flowering plants have a rosette of light green, fleshy leaves. Flowering plants have a single green, white and reddish-brown flower and two or three stem leaves.

Pterostylis timorensis
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Order: Asparagales
Family: Orchidaceae
Subfamily: Orchidoideae
Tribe: Cranichideae
Genus: Pterostylis
Species:
P. timorensis
Binomial name
Pterostylis timorensis

Description

Pterostylis timorensis, is a terrestrial, perennial, deciduous, herb with an underground tuber. Plants have a rosette of three or four bright, dark green leaves, each leaf 25–40 mm (1–2 in) long and 9–22 mm (0.4–0.9 in) wide with a petiole 5–13 mm (0.2–0.5 in) long. Flowering plants have a single green, white and reddish-brown flower about 25 mm (0.98 in) long on a flowering stem 55–85 mm (2–3 in) high. The dorsal sepal and petals are joined to form a hood called the "galea" over the column. The galea is white with green and reddish-brown lines. There is a narrow gap between the galea and the lateral sepals which are joined for 8 mm (0.3 in) and have erect, narrow tips a further 13 mm (0.5 in) long. The sinus between the lateral sepals is V-shaped and the labellum is about 9 mm (0.4 in) long, 5 mm (0.2 in) wide and not visible outside the intact flower.[2]

Taxonomy and naming

Pterostylis timorensis was first formally described in 2008 by André Schuiteman and Jaap J. Vermeulen from a specimen collected on Monte Mundo Perdido and the description was published in the Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society.[1] The specific epithet (timorensis) refers to the distribution of this species with the Latin suffix -ensis meaning "place for" or "where".[3]

Distribution and habitat

This greenhood grows in montane forest at altitudes of about 1,280 m (4,000 ft).[2]

References
  1. "Pterostylis timorensis". World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (WCSP). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
  2. Schuiteman, Andre; Vermeulen, Jaap J. (2008). "The orchids of Timor; checklist and conservation status". Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society. 157: 210–212. doi:10.1111/j.1095-8339.2008.00796.x.
  3. Brown, Roland Wilbur (1956). The Composition of Scientific Words. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press. p. 45.
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