Pterostylis furcata

Forked greenhood
Pterostylis furcata growing east of Cooma
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Monocots
Order: Asparagales
Family: Orchidaceae
Subfamily: Orchidoideae
Tribe: Diurideae
Subtribe: Pterostylidinae
Genus: Pterostylis
Species: P. furcata
Binomial name
Pterostylis furcata
Lindl.[1]

Pterostylis furcata, commonly known as the forked greenhood, is a species of orchid endemic to south-eastern Australia. Flowering plants have a rosette of three to five bright green leaves at the base of the flowering stem and a single green and white flower.

Description

Pterostylis furcata is a terrestrial, perennial, deciduous, herb with an underground tuber. Flowering plants have a rosette of between three and five bright green, egg-shaped to lance-shaped leaves crowded around the base of the flowering stem, each leaf 20-80 mm long and 15-25 mm wide. A single flower 35-40 mm long and 16-20 mm wide is borne on a spike 120-300 mm high. The flowers are green and white. The dorsal sepal and petals are fused, forming a hood or "galea" over the column but the dorsal sepal is longer than the petals and has a sharp point on its end. The lateral sepals are erect with a gap between them and the galea, and there is a deep, V-shaped sinus between them. The labellum is 17-22 mm long, 3-4 mm wide, brown, curved and protrudes above the sinus. Flowering occurs from November to February.[2][3]

Taxonomy and naming

Pterostylis furcata was first formally described in 1840 by John Lindley from a specimen collected in Tasmania and the description was published in The Genera and Species of Orchidaceous Plants.[1][4] The specific epithet (furcata) is a Latin word meaning "forked".[5]

The identify of this species is confused. David Jones in Australian Orchid Research[6] and in A complete guide to native orchids of Australia including the island territories[2] describes its distribution as being restricted to Tasmania but the Atlas of Living Australia,[7] National Herbarium of New South Wales[3] and Queensland Department of Environment and Heritage Protection[8] describe it as extending into Queensland. It is similar to P. foliata and is regarded as a synonym of that species by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne.[9]

Distribution and habitat

The forked greenhood grows in moist or wet places, including rainforest from Queensland to Tasmania.

References

  1. 1 2 "Pterostylis furcata". APNI. Retrieved 16 May 2017.
  2. 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. 307. ISBN 1877069124.
  3. 1 2 Jones, David L. "Pterostylis furcata". Royal Botanic Garden Sydney: plantnet. Retrieved 16 May 2017.
  4. ↑ Lindley, John (1840). The Genera and Species of Orchidaceous Plants. London: Ridgways. p. 390. Retrieved 16 May 2017.
  5. ↑ Brown, Roland Wilbur (1956). The Composition of Scientific Words. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press. p. 345.
  6. ↑ Jones, David L. (1998). "Contributions to Tasmanian Orchidology". Australian Orchid Research. 3: 144–145.
  7. ↑ "Pterostylis furcata". Atlas of Living Australia. Retrieved 16 May 2017.
  8. ↑ "Pterostylis furcata". Government of Queensland Department of Environment and Heritage Protection. Retrieved 16 May 2017.
  9. ↑ "Pterostylis furcata". Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne. Retrieved 16 May 2017.
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