''Pterostylis squamata'', commonly known as the southern rustyhood or ruddyhood, is a plant in the orchid family Orchidaceae and is endemic to south-eastern

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. Flowering plants have up to ten translucent green flowers with reddish-brown markings and a hairy, insect-like labellum. Non-flowering plants have a rosette of four to eight egg-shaped leaves. This species is very similar to ''

Pterostylis rufa ''Pterostylis rufa'', commonly known as the red rustyhood is a plant in the orchid family Orchidaceae and is endemic to south-eastern Australia. It has a rosette of leaves and up to fifteen bright reddish-brown flowers with translucent white "w ...

'' which has a narrower labellum and other minor differences.

Description

''Pterostylis squamata'', 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. Non-flowering plants have a rosette of between four and eight oblong leaves, each leaf long and wide. Flowering plants have up to ten translucent green flowers with reddish-green markings, on a flowering spike high. There are between two and six stem leaves wrapped around the flowering spike. 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. ...

with the dorsal sepal having an upturned, thread-like tip about long. The lateral sepals are about the same width as the galea, egg-shaped and turned downwards, joined for part of their length and taper to a narrow or thread-like tip long. The labellum is insect-like, about long, wide, dark reddish brown and fleshy. There are five to seven hairs up to on each side of the labellum and many shorter hairs on the "head" end. Flowering occurs from October to March.

Taxonomy and naming

''Pterostylis squamata'' was first formally described in 1810 by Robert Brown and the description was published in the '' Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen''. 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 ...

(''squamata'') is a Latin word meaning "scaly".

Distribution and habitat

The southern rustyhood grows in heath, woodland and forest, often near rock outcrops south from the Brindabella Range in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, scattered across Victoria and widespread in Tasmania.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15492195 squamata Endemic orchids of Australia Orchids of the Australian Capital Territory Orchids of New South Wales Orchids of Victoria (Australia) Orchids of Tasmania Plants described in 1810