Jump to content

Pterostylis

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by KeresH (talk | contribs) at 06:40, 23 September 2008 (added melagramma and stenochila to the list of species). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Greenhood
Pterostylis coccinea
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Division:
Class:
Order:
Family:
Tribe:
Subtribe:
Genus:
Pterostylis

Type species
Pterostylis curta
Species

See text.

Pterostylis coccinea, sepals and petals removed
(1) - Lip
(2) - Hinge
(3) - stigma
(4) - pollinia

Pterostylis is a terrestrial deciduous genus of some 100 or so species of orchids found mainly in New Zealand, Australia, Papua New Guinea and New Caledonia. The common name of this orchid is Greenhood - a number of species have green flowers with the dorsal sepal forming a "hood" over the rest of the flower. The name Pterostylis is based on the Greek words meaning winged column (pteron - a wing, stylis - a column). In a number of species, the flower has a hinged lip that swings backwards when touched by an insect, forming a tube with the column and wings. The trapped insect is then forced to crawl out of the tube, removing the pollinia in the process.

Species


References

Flora of New Zealand, Volume II