Pterostylis agrestis

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Pterostylis agrestis
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Monocots
Order: Asparagales
Family: Orchidaceae
Subfamily: Orchidoideae
Genus: Pterostylis
Species:P. agrestis
Binomial name
Pterostylis agrestis
(D.L.Jones) G.N.Backh. [1]
Synonyms [2]

Pterostylis agrestis is a plant in the orchid family Orchidaceae and is endemic to Victoria. It has a rosette of leaves and when flowering, up to fourteen transparent green flowers with a blunt, greenish-black appendage on the labellum. It is similar to the black-tip greenhood, Pterostylis bicolor but that species has larger, less crowded flowers and is found in different habitats.

Orchidaceae family of plants

The Orchidaceae are a diverse and widespread family of flowering plants, with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant, commonly known as the orchid family.

Endemism Ecological state of being unique to a defined geographic location or habitat

Endemism is the ecological state of a species being unique to a defined geographic location, such as an island, nation, country or other defined zone, or habitat type; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsewhere. The extreme opposite of endemism is cosmopolitan distribution. An alternative term for a species that is endemic is precinctive, which applies to species that are restricted to a defined geographical area.

Victoria (Australia) State in Australia

Victoria is a state in south-eastern Australia. Victoria is Australia's smallest mainland state and its second-most populous state overall, making it the most densely populated state overall. Most of its population lives concentrated in the area surrounding Port Phillip Bay, which includes the metropolitan area of its state capital and largest city, Melbourne, Australia's second-largest city. Victoria is bordered by Bass Strait and Tasmania to the south, New South Wales to the north, the Tasman Sea to the east, and South Australia to the west.

Contents

Description

Pterostylis agrestis, is a terrestrial, perennial, deciduous, herb with an underground tuber. It has a rosette of between five and eight crowded, egg-shaped leaves, each leaf 6–20 mm (0.2–0.8 in) long and 3–8 mm (0.1–0.3 in) wide. When flowering there are between three and fourteen crowded, translucent green flowers with darker green lines. The flowers are 8–10 mm (0.3–0.4 in) long and borne on a flowering spike 50–120 mm (2–5 in) tall with four to six stem leaves. The dorsal sepal and petals form a hood over the column. The lateral sepals turn downwards, 4–6 mm (0.16–0.24 in) long and 6–7 mm (0.2–0.3 in) wide, dished and joined for most of their length. The labellum is egg-shaped, about 2 mm (0.08 in) long and wide and green with a greenish-black, forward pointing appendage with three ridges. Flowering occurs from September to October. [3]

Perennial plant Plant that lives for more than two years

A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. Some sources cite perennial plants being plants that live more than three years. The term is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also widely used to distinguish plants with little or no woody growth from trees and shrubs, which are also technically perennials.

Deciduous trees or shrubs that lose their leaves seasonally

In the fields of horticulture and botany, the term deciduous (/dɪˈsɪdʒuəs/) means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, after flowering; and to the shedding of ripe fruit.

Herbaceous plant Plant which has no persistent woody stem above ground

Herbaceous plants in Botany, frequently shortened to herbs, are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stem above ground. Herb has other meanings in cooking, medicine, and other fields. Herbaceous plants are those plants that do not have woody stems, they include many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials, they include both forbs and graminoids.

Taxonomy and naming

This orchid was first formally described in 2009 by David Jones who gave it the name Hymenochilus agrestis from a specimen collected near Sutton Grange. The description was published in The Orchadian. [4] In 2010, Gary Backhouse changed the name to Pterostylis agrestis. [1] The specific epithet (agrestis) is a Latin word meaning "land", "rural" or "wild ". [5]

David Lloyd Jones is an Australian horticultural botanist and the author of a large number of books and papers, especially on Australian orchids.

Sutton Grange, Victoria Town in Victoria, Australia

Sutton Grange is a small country town located approximately 30 kilometres (19 mi) south of Bendigo in Victoria, Australia.

Botanical nomenclature is the formal, scientific naming of plants. It is related to, but distinct from taxonomy. Plant taxonomy is concerned with grouping and classifying plants; botanical nomenclature then provides names for the results of this process. The starting point for modern botanical nomenclature is Linnaeus' Species Plantarum of 1753. Botanical nomenclature is governed by the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants (ICN), which replaces the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature (ICBN). Fossil plants are also covered by the code of nomenclature.

Distribution and habitat

This greenhood is poorly known but has been recorded in grassland near Bacchus Marsh, Maldon, Sutton Grange and Taradale in central Victoria. Pterostylis bicolor is similar but generally found in woodland or coastal scrub. [3]

Bacchus Marsh Town in Victoria, Australia

Bacchus Marsh is an urban centre and suburban locality in Victoria, Australia located approximately 50 kilometres (30 mi) north west of the state capital Melbourne and 14 kilometres (9 mi) west of Melton at a near equidistance to the major cities of Melbourne, Ballarat and Geelong. The population of the Bacchus Marsh urban area was 20,345 at the 2016 Census. Bacchus Marsh is the largest urban area in the local government area of Shire of Moorabool.

Maldon, Victoria Town in Victoria, Australia

Maldon is a town in Victoria, Australia, in the Shire of Mount Alexander local government area. It has been designated "Australia's first notable town" and is notable for its 19th-century appearance, maintained since gold-rush days. At the 2016 census, Maldon had a population of 1,513.

Taradale, Victoria Town in Victoria, Australia

Taradale is a small town in Victoria, Australia. It is located beside the Calder Highway between Melbourne and Bendigo. Its local government area is the Shire of Mount Alexander. At the 2016 census, Taradale had a population of 448.

Related Research Articles

<i>Pterostylis coccina</i> species of plant

Pterostylis coccina, commonly known as the scarlet greenhood, is a species of orchid endemic to eastern Australia. As with similar greenhoods, the flowering plants differ from those which are not flowering. The non-flowering plants have a rosette of leaves flat on the ground but the flowering plants have a single flower with leaves on the flowering spike. In this species, the rosette leaves are relatively large and dark green, and the flowers are white, and bluish-green or red. It grows in New South Wales and north-eastern Victoria.

<i>Pterostylis cycnocephala</i> species of plant

Pterostylis cycnocephala, commonly known as the swan greenhood, is a plant in the orchid family Orchidaceae and is endemic to south-eastern Australia. It has a rosette of leaves and up to 24 green flowers which have a labellum with a dark green, beak-like appendage. It is widespread and common from the Darling Downs in Queensland to Tasmania, usually growing with grasses.

<i>Pterostylis crassicaulis</i> species of plant

Pterostylis crassicaulis, commonly known as the alpine swan greenhood, is a plant in the orchid family Orchidaceae and is endemic to south-eastern Australia. It has a rosette of leaves and up to 18 bluish-green and white flowers with dark green stripes. The flowers have a labellum with a dark green, beak-like appendage. It is similar to P. cycnocephala but is more robust and grows at higher altitudes.

<i>Pterostylis macilenta</i> species of plant

Pterostylis macilenta is a plant in the orchid family Orchidaceae and is endemic to the Grampians National Park in Victoria. As with similar greenhoods, the flowering plants differ from those which are not flowering. The non-flowering plants have a rosette of leaves flat on the ground but the flowering plants have up to six translucent, dark green flowers and lack a rosette.

<i>Pterostylis pedoglossa</i> species of plant

Pterostylis pedoglossa, commonly known as the prawn greenhood, is a species of orchid endemic to south-eastern Australia. There is a rosette of leaves at the base and flowering plants have a single white flower with green stripes, sometimes with a brownish tinge on the tip, and a long, thread-like labellum.

<i>Pterostylis bicolor</i> species of plant

Pterostylis bicolor, commonly known as the black-tip greenhood, is a plant in the orchid family Orchidaceae and is endemic to south-eastern Australia. It has a rosette of leaves and when flowering, three to ten well-spaced, bright green flowers with a blunt, greenish-black appendage on the labellum. It is similar to the swan orchid, Pterostylis cycnocephala but that species has a beak-like appendage and crowded flowers.

<i>Pterostylis tunstallii</i> species of plant

Pterostylis tunstallii, commonly known as Tunstall's greenhood or granite greenhood is a plant in the orchid family Orchidaceae and is endemic to south-eastern Australia. Flowering plants have up to ten transparent green flowers which have a dark brown, insect-like labellum with a blackish "head". Non-flowering plants have a rosette of leaves on a short stalk but flowering plants lack the rosette, instead having five to eight stem leaves.

<i>Pterostylis vittata</i> species of plant

Pterostylis vittata, commonly known as the banded greenhood or green-banded greenhood, is a plant in the orchid family Orchidaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. The plants either have a rosette of leaves on a short stalk in the years when not flowering or stem leaves on a flowering spike. When flowering, it has up to about twenty five flowers which are translucent green with darker green stripes. It was formerly thought to occur in South Australia and Victoria but those collections are now thought to be of Pterostylis sanguinea.

<i>Pterostylis jonesii</i> species of plant

Pterostylis jonesii, commonly known as the montane leafy greenhood, is a plant in the orchid family Orchidaceae and is endemic to a small area of south-eastern Australia. Individual plants have either a rosette of three to six leaves or a flowering spike with up to eleven flowers and five to seven stem leaves. The flowers are translucent green with faint darker green lines and have a brownish-yellow labellum with a dark stripe.

<i>Pterostylis multiflora</i> species of plant

Pterostylis multiflora, commonly known as the tall tiny greenhood, is a species of orchid endemic to south-eastern Australia. As with similar orchids, plants in flower differ from those that are not. Those not in flower have a rosette of leaves lying flat on the ground. Plants in flower lack a rosette but have up to twenty tiny green, white, and brown flowers in summer. The flowering stem has up to six stem leaves.

Pterostylis clivicola is a plant in the orchid family Orchidaceae and is endemic to a small area near the border between New South Wales and Victoria. It has a rosette of leaves and up to fourteen green flowers which have a labellum with a dark green, beak-like appendage.

Pterostylis conferta, commonly known as the leprechaun greenhood or basalt midget greenhood, is a plant in the orchid family Orchidaceae and is endemic to Victoria. It has a rosette of leaves at the base of the flowering stem and up to sixteen pale green flowers in a short, crowded spike. It is a very rare orchid, similar to P. mutica, its distribution much reduced by urbanisation and agriculture.

Pterostylis incognita, commonly known as the Sale greenhood, is a plant in the orchid family Orchidaceae and is endemic to Victoria. It has a rosette of leaves and when flowering, up to twelve crowded flowers on a stem with a rosette at the base. The type specimen was collected near Sale in 1895 but was not formally described or given a name until 2009, by which time it was presumed extinct.

<i>Pterostylis prasina</i> species of plant

Pterostylis prasina, commonly known as the mallee leafy greenhood, is a plant in the orchid family Orchidaceae and is endemic to southern continental Australia. Non-flowering have a rosette of leaves on a short stalk, but flowering plants lack the rosette and have up to eight pale green and translucent green flowers with darker green lines. The flowers have a pale green labellum with a darker central line. It is a common and widespread greenhood in parts of Victoria and South Australia.

Pterostylis pratensis, commonly known as the Liawenee greenhood, is a plant in the orchid family Orchidaceae and is endemic to Tasmania. Both flowering and non-flowering plants have a rosette of leaves lying flat on the ground. Flowering plants have up to twelve crowded white flowers with prominent green stripes. This greenhood only grows in low, exposed subalpine tussock grassland.

Pterostylis spissa, commonly known as the cygnet greenhood, is a plant in the orchid family Orchidaceae and is endemic to Victoria. Both flowering and non-flowering plants have a rosette of leaves lying flat on the ground and flowering plants have up to twelve small, green flowers which have a green labellum with a dark green beak-like appendage.

Pterostylis stenosepala, commonly known as the narrow-sepalled leafy greenhood, is a plant in the orchid family Orchidaceae and is endemic to New South Wales. Flowering plants have up to six shiny, translucent green flowers with darker green stripes. The flowers have an insect-like labellum which is green with a dark green mound on its upper end. Non-flowering plants have a rosette of leaves on a stalk, but flowering plants lack the rosette, instead having between four and eight stem leaves.

Pterostylis tanypoda, commonly known as the swan greenhood, is a species of greenhood orchid endemic to New Zealand. Both flowering and non-flowering plants have a rosette of leaves lying flat on the ground and flowering plants have up to seven crowded, inconspicuous bluish-green and white-striped flowers.

Pterostylis wapstrarum, commonly known as the fleshy greenhood, is a plant in the orchid family Orchidaceae and is endemic to Tasmania. Both flowering and non-flowering plants have a rosette of leaves lying flat on the ground and flowering plants have up to fifteen crowded green flowers with darker green veins.

Pterostylis ziegeleri, commonly known as the Cape Portland greenhood, is a plant in the orchid family Orchidaceae and is endemic to Tasmania. Both flowering and non-flowering plants have a rosette of leaves lying flat on the ground and flowering plants have up to eight crowded translucent, pale green flowers with darker green veins.

References

  1. 1 2 "Pterostylis agrestis". APNI. Retrieved 10 June 2017.
  2. "Pterostylis agrestis". World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (WCSP). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
  3. 1 2 Jeanes, Jeff. "Pterostylis agrestis". Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria: vicflora. Retrieved 10 June 2017.
  4. "Pterostylis agrestis". APNI. Retrieved 10 June 2017.
  5. Brown, Roland Wilbur (1956). The Composition of Scientific Words. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press. p. 76.