''Pterostylis amabilis'' 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 ...

. As with similar orchids, the flowering plants differ from those which are not flowering. The non-flowering plants have a rosette of leaves but the flowering plants lack a rosette at the base but have up to ten tiny white and red to reddish-brown flowers. It is similar to '' P. parviflora'' but has larger rosette leaves and larger, more brightly coloured flowers. Pterostylis amabilis habit

Description

''Pterostylis amabilis'' is a terrestrial, perennial, deciduous,

herb In general use, herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables and other plants consumed for macronutrients, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicinal ...

with an underground tuber and when not flowering, a rosette of three to five bright green, broad egg-shaped leaves which lie flat on the ground. Each leaf is long and wide. Flowering plants have up to ten well-spaced flowers long and wide borne on a thin, wiry spike high. Up to five leaf rosettes are arranged on the side of the flowering spike. The flowers are bright reddish-brown and white and usually up to four are open at once. 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 fused, forming a hood or "galea" 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 galea has an inflated shape near its base and rough surface. The lateral sepals are erect, held closely against the galea with thread-like tips about long that do not project as far as the top of the galea. The sinus between the bases of the lateral sepals bulges forward and curves inward at the top. The labellum is not visible from outside the intact flower. Flowering occurs mainly in February and March.

Taxonomy and naming

This greenhood was first formally described in 2014 by David Jones and Lachlan Copeland and given the name ''Speculantha amabilis''. The description was published in the ''Australian Orchid Review''. In 2015 Jones changed the name to ''Pterostylis amabilis'' "to allow for the different taxonomic views held at generic level within the subtribe". 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 ...

(''amabilis'') is a Latin word meaning "lovely", referring to the colour of the flowers.

Distribution and habitat

''Pterostylis amabilis'' grows in rich soil in moist, tall forest on the higher parts of the

New England Tableland New England is a vaguely defined region in the north of the state of New South Wales, Australia, about 60 km inland from the Tasman Sea. The area includes the Northern Tablelands (or New England Tablelands) and the North West Slopes regions. A ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q29347906

amabilis Amabilis (derived from Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome ...

Endemic orchids of Australia Orchids of New South Wales Plants described in 2014