''Pterostylis vernalis'', commonly known as the spring tiny greenhood, is a species of

orchid Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Along with the Asteraceae, they are one of the two largest families of flowering ...

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

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. As with similar orchids, the flowering plants differ from those that are not currently flowering. Non-flowering plants have a rosette of leaves at the base. Flowering plants lack that rosette, but have one or two rosettes on lateral growths. The flowers are green, brown and white. This greenhood is only known from a small area near Nowra. Pterostylis vernalis rosette

Description

''Pterostylis vernalis'' is a terrestrial,

perennial A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...

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 Tubers are a type of enlarged structure used as storage organs for nutrients in some plants. They are used for the plant's perennation (survival of the winter or dry months), to provide energy and nutrients for regrowth during the next growing ...

and when not flowering, a rosette of three to seven egg-shaped, dark green leaves long and wide. Flowering plants have up to four flowers but not all are open at the same time. The flowers are long, about wide, green with a white patch near the base and dark brown near the tip. They are borne on a thin, wiry flowering stem high, each flower on a separate

pedicel Pedicle or pedicel may refer to: Human anatomy *Pedicle of vertebral arch, the segment between the transverse process and the vertebral body, and is often used as a radiographic marker and entry point in vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty procedures ...

long. The dorsal

sepal A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 The term ''sepalum'' was coined b ...

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 dorsal sepal is erect near its base, then curves forward in a semi-circle, the dorsal sepal slightly longer than the petals. The lateral sepals partly close off the front of the flower and are erect, in close contact with the galea with their tips about the same height as the top of the galea. The labellum is long, and barely visible from outside the intact flower. Flowering occurs in spring.

Taxonomy and naming

The spring tiny greenhood was first formally described in 2006 by David Jones who gave it the name ''Speculantha vernalis''. (It had previously been known as ''Pterostylis'' sp. 'Flat Rock Creek'.) The description was published in ''The Orchadian'' from a specimen collected near Flat Rock Creek Reservoir near Nowra. In 2010

Gary Backhouse Gary may refer to: *Gary (given name), a common masculine given name, including a list of people and fictional characters with the name *Gary, Indiana, the largest city named Gary Places ;Iran * Gary, Iran, Sistan and Baluchestan Province ;Uni ...

changed the name to ''Pterostylis vernalis''. 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 ...

(''vernalis'') is a

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

word meaning "of springtime".

Distribution and habitat

''Pterostylis vernalis'' usually grows in open sites in shallow, sandy soil near the edges of sandstone slabs, often with mosses and other small plants. Only five populations are known, all in the Nowra district.

Conservation

''Pterostylis vernalis'' is listed as "critically endangered" (CR) under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) and under the New South Wales Government NSW Threatened Species Conservation Act. Only about 500 mature plants are known from five separate populations, only one of which is in a national park. The main threat to the species is land clearing.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q17329276 vernalis Endemic orchids of Australia Orchids of New South Wales Plants described in 2006