''Pterostylis macrosceles'', commonly known as the slender rufous greenhood is a plant in the orchid family
Orchidaceae and is
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 relatively large
rosette of leaves. Flowering plants also have between four and eight white flowers with green brown lines and small, insect-like
labellum. It is distinguished from other Western Australian greenhoods by the unusually long thread-like tips on its
sepals.
Description
''Pterostylis macrosceles'' 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 leaf rosette which is wide. Flowering plants have a rosette at the base of the flowering stem but the leaves are usually withered by flowering time. Between four and eight or more translucent white flowers with green or brown lines are borne on a flowering stem tall. The flowers lean forward and are long and wide. 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 form a hood or "galea" over the column with the dorsal sepal having a long, narrow tip on its end. The
lateral sepals turn downwards and suddenly narrow to thin, unusually long thread-like tips. The labellum is fleshy, dark brown, hairy and insect-like. Flowering occurs from September to October.
Taxonomy and naming
This 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 macrosceles'' from a specimen collected near
Yellowdine and the description was published in ''Australian Orchid Review''.
The genus ''Oligochaetochilus'' is not accepted as distinct from ''Pterostylis'' by most taxonomists and in 2015 David Jones changed the name to ''Pterostylis macrosceles'' "to allow for the different taxonomic views held at generic level".
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 ...
(''macrosceles'') is derived from the
Ancient Greek words ''makros'' meaning "long"
and ''skelos'' meaning "leg"
referring to the long tips on the sepals.
Distribution and habitat
The slender rufous greenhood is usually found growing in shallow soil on granite outcrops between
Goomalling and Queen Victoria Rocks south of
Coolgardie in the
Avon Wheatbelt,
Coolgardie,
Mallee and
Yalgoo biogeographic regions
A biogeographic realm or ecozone is the broadest biogeographic division of Earth's land surface, based on distributional patterns of terrestrial organisms. They are subdivided into bioregions, which are further subdivided into ecoregions.
De ...
.
Conservation
''Pterostylis macrosceles'' is classified as "not threatened" 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 ...
.
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q29650811
macrosceles
Endemic orchids of Australia
Orchids of Western Australia
Plants described in 2014