Speculantha rubescens

Location & distribution maps

Phylogeny & links to associated information

Wikipedia links:       Angiosperms > Monocots >  Orchidaceae > Speculantha rubescens / Pterostylis_rubescens 

Other links:     

Plant  information

Common name:        Tiny greenhood 

• Also, Blushing Tiny Greenhood

Conservation status:    ...

Etymology:   

• The specific epithet (rubescens) is derived from the Latin word ruber meaning "red" or "reddish"  

• The suffix -escens meaning "becoming"

Flowers:                  

• Green and white and brownish

• Flowering plants have between three and eighteen well-spaced flowers 10–18 mm long are borne on a thin, wiry spike 150–600 mm high

• Three to six leaves are wrapped around the flowering spike

• The flowers are almost spherical, green and white near the base, brownish near the tip and age to pinkish

• The dorsal sepal and petals are fused, forming a hood or "galea" over the column

• The dorsal sepal curves forward near the top and has a rough tip

• The lateral sepals are erect and held closely against the galea with narrow tips about 2 mm long that do not project above the galea

• The sinus between the bases of the lateral sepals bulges forward and has a small notch in the centre

• The labellum is about 4 mm long, 2 mm wide and is not visible above the sinus

• Flowering occurs from January to May

Fruit:                         

Leaves:         

•  When not flowering, a rosette of between 5and 15 egg-shaped to heart-shaped leaves lie flat on the ground

•  Each leaf is 6–25 mm long and 3–18 mm wide

Stem & branches: 

Roots:         

Habit:        

• It is a terrestrial, perennial, deciduous, herb with an underground tuber 

• It is a species of orchid 

• As with similar orchids, the flowering plants differ from those which are not flowering

• The non-flowering plants have a rosette of leaves 

• The flowering plants lack a rosette at the base and have up to eighteen tiny flowers

Habitat:   

• It grows on slopes and ridges in open forest and woodland

Distribution:                  

•  Endemic to south-eastern Australia 

• It is widespread in northern Victoria and on the central and southern tablelands of NSW

Additional notes:     

• Taxonomy 

  • The blushing tiny greenhood was first formally described in 2008 by David Jones who gave it the name Speculantha rubescens

  • The description was published in The Orchadian from a specimen collected in the Conimbla National Park

  • In 2010 Gary Backhouse changed the name to Pterostylis rubescens

Sources of information:

• (2023)