''Pterostylis elegantissima'', commonly known as the elegant rufous greenhood, is a species of orchid endemic to the

south-west The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each se ...

of Western Australia. Both flowering and non-flowering plants have a large rosette of leaves flat on the ground and flowering plants have up to eight green, white and black or brown flowers.

Description

''Pterostylis elegantissima'' 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 a rosette of leaves in diameter. Flowering plants have up to eight, well-spaced flowers long and wide on a flowering stem high. The flowers are green, white and black or brown. 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 lateral sepals turn downwards and suddenly taper to thread-like tips which spread apart from each other. The labellum is dark blackish-brown and insect-like with many short hairs on the "head" end and longer bristles on the side of the "body". Flowering occurs from October to November.

Taxonomy and naming

The elegant rufous greenhood was first formally described in 2014 by David Jones and

Christopher French Christopher French could refer to: *Christopher French (theologian) (fl. c. 1650–c.1713), Irish professor of divinity *Chris French (Christopher Charles French) (born 1956), British psychologist *Christopher French (judge) (1925–2003), British ...

and given the name ''Oligochaetochilus elegantissimus''. The description was published in ''Australian Orchid Review'' from a specimen collected near the Peak Charles National Park. In 2015 David Jones changed the name to ''Pterostylis elegantissima'' "to allow for the different taxonomic views held at generic level within the subtribe". The species had previously been known as ''Pterostylis'' sp. 'elegant'. 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 ...

(''elegantissima'') is the superlative form of the Latin word ''elegans'' meaning "tasteful", "choice", "fine" or "select", hence "most elegant" "in reference to the tall habit of the plant and its elegant, decorative flowers".

Distribution and habitat

The elegant rufous greenhood grows in woodland and in shallow soil on granite outcrops. It has a wide distribution between Goomalling and

Salmon Gums Salmon () is the common name for several commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the family Salmonidae, which are native to tributaries of the North Atlantic (genus '' Salmo'') and North Pacific (genus ''Oncorhynch ...

in the Mallee

biogeographic region An ecoregion (ecological region) or ecozone (ecological zone) is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion, which in turn is smaller than a biogeographic realm. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of l ...

but only occurs in a few isolated populations.

Conservation

''Pterostylis elegantissima'' is classified as " Priority One" by the Western Australian Government

Department of Parks and Wildlife The Department of Parks and Wildlife (DPaW) was the department of the Government of Western Australia responsible for managing lands described in the ''Conservation and Land Management Act 1984'' and implementing the state's conservation and e ...

, meaning that it is known from only one or a few locations which are potentially at risk.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q29650682 elegantissima Endemic orchids of Australia Orchids of Western Australia Plants described in 2014