''Pterostylis chaetophora'', commonly known as the Taree rustyhood, tall rusthood or ruddy hood is a plant in the orchid family

Orchidaceae Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Along with the Asteraceae, they are one of the two largest families of flowering ...

and is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

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 at its base and up to twelve reddish-brown flowers with translucent "windows" and a fleshy, reddish-brown, bristly, insect-like labellum.

Description

''Pterostylis chaetophora'', is a terrestrial,

perennial A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () 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, aft ...

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. It has a rosette of between six and nine egg-shaped leaves long and wide. Flowering plants have a rosette at the base of the flowering spike but the leaves are usually withered by flowering time. Up to twelve reddish-brown flowers with translucent panels and long, wide are borne on a flowering spike tall. The flowers lean forward and there are three to five stem leaves wrapped around the flowering spike. The

dorsal Dorsal (from Latin ''dorsum'' ‘back’) may refer to: * Dorsal (anatomy), an anatomical term of location referring to the back or upper side of an organism or parts of an organism * Dorsal, positioned on top of an aircraft's fuselage * Dorsal co ...

sepal A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 The term ''sepalum'' was coined b ...

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 form a hood or "galea" over the column with the dorsal sepal having a narrow tip long. The

lateral Lateral is a geometric term of location which may refer to: Healthcare *Lateral (anatomy), an anatomical direction *Lateral cricoarytenoid muscle *Lateral release (surgery), a surgical procedure on the side of a kneecap Phonetics *Lateral cons ...

sepals turn downwards, are about the same width as the galea and suddenly taper to narrow tips long which spread apart from each other. The labellum is fleshy, reddish-brown and insect-like, about long and wide with a channel along its mid-line. The "head" end has many short hairs and the "body" has ten to thirteen hairs up to long on each side. Flowering occurs from August to November.

Taxonomy and naming

''Pterostylis chaetophora'' was first formally described in 1989 by Mark Clements and David Jones from a specimen collected near Abermain and the description was published in ''Australian Orchid Research''. 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 ...

(''chaetophora'') is derived from the

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...

word ''chaite'' meaning "long hair" and the

suffix In linguistics, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns, adjectives, and verb endings, which form the conjugation of verbs. Suffixes can carry ...

''-phorus'' meaning "-bearing".

Distribution and habitat

The Taree rustyhood grows in forest with grasses and shrubs in the

Taree Taree is a town on the Mid North Coast, New South Wales, Australia. Taree and nearby Cundletown were settled in 1831 by William Wynter. Since then Taree has grown to a population of 26,381, and is the centre of a significant agricultural distri ...

district and in

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

Conservation

''Pterostylis chaetophora'' is listed as "vulnerable" unde the New South Wales ''Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995''. The main threats to the species are weed invasion, habitat loss and disturbance from road works, rubbish dumping and uncontrolled vehicle access.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15492443 chaetophora Endemic orchids of Australia Orchids of New South Wales Orchids of Queensland Plants described in 1989