Pterostylis stenochila

Narrow-lip leafy greenhood
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Monocots
Order:	Asparagales
Family:	Orchidaceae
Subfamily:	Orchidoideae
Tribe:	Cranichideae
Genus:	Pterostylis
Species:	P. stenochila
Binomial name
	Pterostylis stenochila; D.L.Jones [1]
Synonyms [2]
	Oligochaetochilus stenochilos(D.L.Jones) Szlach. ; Bunochilus stenochilus(D.L.Jones) D.L.Jones & M.A.Clem. ;

Last updated May 03, 2019

Pterostylis stenochila, commonly known as the narrow-lip leafy greenhood, is a plant in the orchid family Orchidaceae and is endemic to Tasmania. Flowering plants have up to seven shiny, transparent green flowers with darker green stripes. The flowers have an insect-like labellum which is green with an emerald green stripe along its centre. Non-flowering plants have a rosette of leaves on a stalk, but flowering plants lack the rosette, instead having five or six stem leaves.

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 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.

Tasmania is an island state of Australia. It is located 240 km (150 mi) to the south of the Australian mainland, separated by Bass Strait. The state encompasses the main island of Tasmania, the 26th-largest island in the world, and the surrounding 334 islands. The state has a population of around 526,700 as of March 2018. Just over forty percent of the population resides in the Greater Hobart precinct, which forms the metropolitan area of the state capital and largest city, Hobart.

Description

Pterostylis stenochila, is a terrestrial, perennial, deciduous, herb with an underground tuber. Non-flowering plants have a rosette of between three and five lance-shaped to egg-shaped leaves, each leaf 20–40 mm (0.8–2 in) long and 6–8 mm (0.2–0.3 in) wide on a stalk 30–50 mm (1–2 in) tall. Flowering plants have up to seven transparent green flowers with darker green stripes on a flowering spike 120–300 mm (5–10 in) high. The flowering spike has five or six lance-shaped to egg-shaped stem leaves which are 15–50 mm (0.6–2 in) long and 5–9 mm (0.2–0.4 in) wide. The dorsal sepal and petals are fused, forming a hood or "galea" over the column with the dorsal sepal having a short point on its tip. The petals have a wide, transparent flange on their outer edges. The lateral sepals turn downwards, 10–13 mm (0.4–0.5 in) long, about 5 mm (0.2 in) wide and joined for part of their length. The labellum is insect-like, 6–7 mm (0.2–0.3 in) long, about 2 mm (0.08 in) wide, with an emerald green stripe along it centre and a mound on the "head" end. Flowering occurs from July to September.^[3]^[4]

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.

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 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

Pterostylis stenochila was first formally described in 1998 by David Jones and the description was published in Muelleria from a specimen collected at Brooks Bay near Geeveston.^[1] The specific epithet (stenochila) is derived from the Ancient Greek words stenos meaning "narrow"^[5]^:546 and cheilos meaning "lip",^[5]^:200 referring to the narrow labellum.^[3]

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

Muelleria is a peer-reviewed scientific journal on botany published by the Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne. It focuses on topics relating to plants, algae, and fungi in the southern hemisphere and Australia in particular. The journal was named in honour of Victorian Government botanist Ferdinand von Mueller. Muelleria commenced publication in 1955 with funding from the Maud Gibson Trust. The trust was initiated in 1945 following the donation of £20,000 by Maud Gibson, a daughter of William Gibson, founder of the Foy & Gibson department store chain.

Geeveston is a small town in the south of Tasmania in Australia on the Huon River, 62 km south west of Hobart, making it Australia's most southerly administrative centre. The town takes its name from William Geeves, an English settler who was given a land grant by Lady Jane Franklin in the area then known as Lightwood Bottom. The settlement Geeves set up was renamed Geeves Town in 1861, and the name eventually became Geeveston. Geeveston is for local government purposes included in the area of the Huon Valley Council and is part of the division of Franklin for both Australian House of Representatives and Tasmanian House of Assembly electoral purposes.

Distribution and habitat

The narrow-lip leafy greenhood grows in heathy forest at altitudes of up to 300 m (1,000 ft).^[4]^[3]

Related Research Articles

Pterostylis melagramma, commonly known as the black-stripe leafy greenhood is a plant in the orchid family Orchidaceae and is endemic to south-eastern Australia. Individual plants have either a rosette of three to six leaves or a flowering spike with up to twenty 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.

Pterostylis longifolia, commonly known as the common leafy greenhood or tall greenhood, is a plant in the orchid family Orchidaceae and is endemic to eastern Australia. Flowering plants have up to seven flowers which are green, partly transparent and which have a labellum which is pale green and hairy with a blackish central stripe. Non-flowering plants have a rosette of leaves but flowering plants lack the rosette, instead having five to eight stem leaves. A similar species, Pterostylis melagramma has paler green flowers which have a less hairy labellum.

Pterostylis chlorogramma, commonly known as the green-striped leafy greenhood, is a plant in the orchid family Orchidaceae and is endemic to Victoria. Flowering plants have up to seven translucent green flowers with darker green stripes. The flowers have a green labellum with a darker stripe down the middle. Non-flowering plants have a rosette of leaves on a short, thin stalk but flowering plants lack the rosette, instead having five to seven stem leaves.

Pterostylis diminuta, commonly known as the small-flowered leafy greenhood, is a plant in the orchid family Orchidaceae and is endemic to 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 twelve small, partly green, partly translucent flowers and lack a rosette.

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.

Pterostylis smaragdyna, commonly known as the emerald-lip leafy greenhood, is a plant in the orchid family Orchidaceae and is endemic to south-eastern Australia. Flowering plants have up to ten translucent green flowers with darker green markings. The flowers have an insect-like labellum which is green with a darker green mound at the "head" end. Non-flowering plants have a rosette of leaves but flowering plants lack the rosette, instead having five to seven stem leaves.

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.

Pterostylis williamsonii, commonly known as the brown-lip leafy greenhood, is a plant in the orchid family Orchidaceae and is endemic to Tasmania. Flowering plants have up to seven transparent green flowers with darker green and brown bands and a hairy, insect-like labellum with a blackish stripe. Non-flowering plants have a rosette of leaves on a short stalk but flowering plants lack the rosette, instead having five to seven stem leaves.

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.

Pterostylis agathicola, commonly known as the kauri greenhood, is a species of orchid endemic to the North Island of New Zealand. 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. It grows almost exclusively in kauri forest and has a relatively large green and transparent white flower.

Pterostylis brumalis, commonly known as the kauri greenhood or winter greenhood, is a species of orchid endemic to New Zealand. There is a rosette of leaves at the base of both flowering and non-flowering plants. Flowering plants have a white flower with narrow green stripes and a dorsal sepal which bends forward strongly while the petals spread widely, giving the flower a cobra-like appearance.

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Pterostylis lineata, commonly known as the Blue Mountains 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 with translucent "windows" on a flowering stem with stem leaves. The labellum is light brown with a black strip along its mid-line.

Pterostylis littoralis, commonly known as the coastal leafy greenhood, is a plant in the orchid family Orchidaceae and is endemic to South Australia. Flowering plants have up to five pale green flowers with darker green stripes and brownish tips. The flowers have a narrow, pale green labellum. Non-flowering plants have a rosette of leaves on a short, thin stalk but flowering plants lack the rosette, instead having four or five stem leaves.

Pterostylis loganii, commonly known as the Logan's leafy greenhood, is a plant in the orchid family Orchidaceae and is endemic to a small area near the border between New South Wales and Victoria. Flowering plants have up to five pale green flowers with darker green stripes and brownish tips. The flowers have a brown labellum with a blackish stripe and a blackish mound near its base. Non-flowering plants have a rosette of leaves on a short, thin stalk but flowering plants lack the rosette, instead having five to seven stem leaves.

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Pterostylis umbrina, commonly known as the broad-sepaled leafy greenhood, is a plant in the orchid family Orchidaceae and is endemic to the Australian Capital Territory and New South Wales on the Southern Tablelands. As with similar greenhoods, plants in flower differ from those that are not. Those not in flower have a rosette of leaves flat on a short stalk. Plants in flower have up to six green flowers with darker green stripes with stem leaves but lack a rosette.

Pterostylis flavovirens, commonly known as the coastal banded greenhood, is a plant in the orchid family Orchidaceae that is endemic to South Australia. As with other similar orchids, non-flowering plants differ from those in flower. Flowering plants have up to seven pale to translucent green flowers with darker green stripes. The flowers have an insect-like labellum which is yellowish green with a slightly darker green stripe along its centre. Non-flowering plants have a rosette of leaves on a stalk, but flowering plants lack the rosette, instead having three to six stem leaves.

References

1 2 "Pterostylis stenochila". APNI. Retrieved 18 July 2017.
↑ "Pterostylis stenochila". World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (WCSP). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
1 2 3 Jones, David L. (1998). "Contributions to Tasmanian Orchidology". Autralian Orchid Research. 3: 153–154.
1 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. 319. ISBN 978-1877069123.
1 2 Brown, Roland Wilbur (1956). The Composition of Scientific Words. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press.

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[APNI-1] 1 2 "Pterostylis stenochila". APNI. Retrieved 18 July 2017.

[WCSP-2] "Pterostylis stenochila". World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (WCSP). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

[AOR-3] 1 2 3 Jones, David L. (1998). "Contributions to Tasmanian Orchidology". Autralian Orchid Research. 3: 153–154.

[Jones-4] 1 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. 319. ISBN 978-1877069123.

[RWB-5] 1 2 Brown, Roland Wilbur (1956). The Composition of Scientific Words. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press.