''Pterostylis scitula'', commonly known as the elegant snail orchid, 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 small rosette of leaves flat on the ground. Flowering plants have a single, small green and white flower with leaves on the flowering stem. Pterostylis scitula rosette

Description

''Pterostylis scitula'' 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 when not flowering, a rosette of leaves in diameter. Flowering plants have a single green and white flower long and wide on a flowering stem high. There are between two and four stem leaves long and wide on the flowering stem. 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 are held closely against the galea, fused at their bases and almost closing the front of the flower with erect tips long. The labellum is small, narrow and not visible from outside the flower. Flowering occurs from August to September.

Taxonomy and naming

''Pterostylis scitula'' was first formally described in 2015 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 ...

from a specimen collected near Moora and the description was published in ''Australian Orchid Review''. 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 ...

(''scitula'') is a Latin word meaning "beautiful", "elegant", "handsome" or "pretty" referring to the "neat, elegant flowers".

Distribution and habitat

The elegant snail orchid grows in moist soil in dense scrub between Moora and Mogumber in the Avon Wheatbelt, Jarrah Forest and

Swan Coastal Plain The Swan Coastal Plain in Western Australia is the geographic feature which contains the Swan River as it travels west to the Indian Ocean. The coastal plain continues well beyond the boundaries of the Swan River and its tributaries, as a geol ...

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 scitula'' is listed as "not threatened" by the

Government of Western Australia The Government of Western Australia, formally referred to as His Majesty's Government of Western Australia, is the Australian state democratic administrative authority of Western Australia. It is also commonly referred to as the WA Government o ...

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=Q29966430 scitula Endemic orchids of Australia Orchids of Western Australia Plants described in 2015