''Pterostylis acuminata'', commonly known as the sharp greenhood or pointed greenhood is a species of orchid endemic to eastern

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. It has a rosette of leaves and a single green and white flower, leaning forward with a brown point on the end of the labellum.

Description

''Pterostylis acuminata'' has a rosette of between three and six dark green, oblong leaves, each leaf long and wide. A single green and white flower is borne on a flowering spike high. The flowers are long, wide and lean forward or "nod". The dorsal sepal and

petal Petals are modified Leaf, leaves that surround the reproductive parts of flowers. They are often advertising coloration, brightly colored or unusually shaped to attract pollinators. All of the petals of a flower are collectively known as the ''c ...

s are joined and curve forward forming a hood over the

column A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member. ...

. The tip of the hood is sharply pointed and brownish. There is a broad, bulging gap in the sinus between the lateral sepals and a large gap between the lateral sepals and petals. The lateral sepals have thread-like tips long. The labellum protrudes through the sinus and is long, about wide, curved, reddish-brown and pointed. Flowering occurs between March and May.

Taxonomy and naming

''Pterostylis acuminata'' was first described in 1810 by Robert Brown and the description was published in '' Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen''. The

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

(''acuminata'') is a Latin word meaning "sharpened" or "pointed".

Distribution and habitat

The sharp greenhood grows in coastal forest and heath in Queensland and New South Wales. There is also an isolated population in far eastern Victoria.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15491453 acuminata Endemic orchids of Australia Orchids of New South Wales Orchids of Queensland Orchids of Victoria (Australia) Plants described in 1810