''Pterostylis tasmanica'', commonly known as the small bearded greenhood, is a species of orchid in the family Orchidaceae which is

native Native may refer to: People * Jus soli, citizenship by right of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Native Americans (disambiguation) In arts and entert ...

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 ...

and New Zealand. It has a single green flower with translucent "windows" and a long, thin labellum bordered with golden hairs. It is similar to '' P. plumosa'' but is shorter, with smaller leaves and flowers but a more densely feathery labellum.

Description

''Pterostylis tasmanica'' 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 . It has between eight and fourteen dark green leaves crowded around the base of the stem and extending upwards, the leaves long and wide. Flowering plants have a single green flower with translucent green panels, the flower long and wide arranged on a flowering stem high. 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 to form 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 dorsal sepal with a short point on its end. The lateral sepals are turned downwards, joined near their bases with tapering tips long. The labellum long, bearded with bright yellow hairs up to long and ending in a dark brown knob. The flowers appear from September to November.

Taxonomy and naming

''Pterostylis tasmanica'' was first described in 1994 by David Jones and the description was published in ''Muelleria'' from a specimen collected near Temma in the

Arthur-Pieman Conservation Area The Arthur–Pieman Conservation Area (APCA) stretches along West Coast Tasmania, covering over . Much of the reserve is between the Arthur River in the north, the Pieman River in the south and the Frankland and Donaldson Rivers to the east. ...

. 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 ...

(tasmanica) is refers to the distribution of this greenhood "being centred around Tasmania and the Tasmanian basin".

Distribution and habitat

The small bearded greenhood grows in coastal heath and scrub. It is widespread in Tasmania but also occurs on the south coast of New South Wales, southern Victoria the south-east of South Australia and on both the North and

South Island The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...

s of New Zealand.

Ecology

''Pterostylis tasmanica'' is autogamous and the ovary is already swollen when the flowers open.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15492916 tasmanica Endemic orchids of Australia Orchids of New South Wales Orchids of Victoria (Australia) Orchids of South Australia Orchids of Tasmania Orchids of New Zealand Plants described in 1994