''Pterostylis furcata'', commonly known as the forked greenhood, is a species of
orchid endemic to
Tasmania. Flowering plants have a
rosette of bright green leaves at the base of the flowering stem and a single green and white flower with the tip of the
dorsal sepal pointing above the horizontal.
Description
''Pterostylis furcata'' 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. Flowering plants have a rosette of bright green leaves loosely arranged around the base of the flowering stem, each leaf long and wide. A single green and white flower long and wide is borne on a spike high. The dorsal sepal and petals 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. ...
but the dorsal sepal is longer than the petals, has a sharp point on its end and points slightly upwards. There is a wide gap between the
lateral sepals and the galea, and there is a curved, deeply notched sinus between them. The labellum is long, about wide, dark-coloured, curved and protrudes above the sinus. Flowering occurs from November to February.
Taxonomy and naming
''Pterostylis furcata'' was first formally described in 1840 by
John Lindley
John Lindley FRS (5 February 1799 – 1 November 1865) was an English botanist, gardener and orchidologist.
Early years
Born in Catton, near Norwich, England, John Lindley was one of four children of George and Mary Lindley. George Lindley w ...
from a specimen collected in
Tasmania and the description was published in ''The Genera and Species of Orchidaceous Plants''.
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 ...
(''furcata'') is a
Latin word meaning "forked".
Distribution and habitat
The forked greenhood grows in wet forest and in montane grassland in Tasmania.
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q15492775
furcata
Endemic orchids of Australia
Orchids of Tasmania
Plants described in 1840