''Pterostylis incognita'', commonly known as the Sale greenhood, is a plant in the orchid family
Orchidaceae and is
endemic to
Victoria. It has a
rosette of leaves and when flowering, up to twelve crowded flowers on a stem with a rosette at the base. The
type
Type may refer to:
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* Ty ...
specimen was collected near
Sale in 1895 but was not formally described or given a name until 2009, by which time it was presumed extinct.
Description
''Pterostylis incognita'', 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. There is a rosette of between five and seven, egg-shaped leaves, each leaf long and wide at the base of the plant. Between five and twelve flowers are crowded together on a flowering spike high with three to five stem leaves wrapped around it. The flowers are long and 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 joined to form a hood called the "galea" over the column. The galea is erect near its base then gradually curves with the tip suddenly turning downwards. The lateral sepals turn downwards and are about long, wide, cupped and joined for part of their length before ending in narrow tips about long. The labellum is about long and wide and green with a dark green
appendage
An appendage (or outgrowth) is an external body part, or natural prolongation, that protrudes from an organism's body.
In arthropods, an appendage refers to any of the homologous body parts that may extend from a body segment, including anten ...
near its base. Flowering occurs from September to October.
Taxonomy and naming
The Sale greenhood was first formally described in 2009 by
David Jones and given the name ''Hymenochilus incognitus'' from a specimen collected near
Sale in 1895 by Miss M. Wise. The description was published in ''The Orchadian''.
In 2010
Gary Backhouse
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changed the name to ''Pterosylis incognita''.
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 ...
(''incognita'') is a
Latin word meaning "unknown".
Distribution and habitat
''Pterostylis incognita'' probably grew in grassland or in grassy forest near Sale.
Conservation
No scientific collections of this species have been made for more than one hundred years and it is presumed to be extinct.
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q17329294
incognita
Endemic orchids of Australia
Orchids of Victoria (Australia)
Plants described in 2009
Extinct plants