''Pterostylis caulescens'' is a plant in the orchid family Orchidaceae and is endemic to New Guinea. It was first formally described in 1946 by

Louis Otho Williams Louis Otho (Otto) Williams (1908-1991) was a botanist from Wyoming. He received his BA and MA from the University of Wyoming then a PhD from Washington University in St. Louis. He went on to be editor of the ''American Orchid Society#Publications, A ...

from a specimen collected in the

Rawlinson Range Rawlinson Range is a mountain range in north-eastern Papua New Guinea. The range was named after Sir Henry Rawlinson Sir Henry Creswicke Rawlinson, 1st Baronet, KLS (5 April 1810 – 5 March 1895) was a British East India Company army ...

Mary Strong Clemens Mary Strong Clemens (3 January 1873 – 13 April 1968) was an American botanist and plant collector. A fanatical botanist, she collected plants assiduously throughout her long life, in the remote parts of the Philippines, Borneo, China, New Gui ...

. The description was published in the Harvard University Botanical Museum Leaflets. Williams noted that it was distinguished from other ''Pterostylis'' in New Guinea by its large stem leaves which are long and wide. He also noted that he was describing the plant from poor material but that the colour of the flower was "flesh pink". 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 ...

(''caulescens'') is derived from the Latin word ''caulis'' meaning "a stem", hence

caulescent This glossary of botanical terms is a list of definitions of terms and concepts relevant to botany and plants in general. Terms of plant morphology are included here as well as at the more specific Glossary of plant morphology and Glossary o ...

References

caulescens Orchids of New Guinea Plants described in 1946 Endemic flora of New Guinea {{Orchidoideae-stub