Taree rustyhood (Pterostylis chaetophora)
Description
Pterostylis chaetophora, is a terrestrial, perennial, deciduous, herb with an underground tuber. It has a rosette of between six and nine egg-shaped leaves 10–35 mm (0.4–1 in) long and 8–15 mm (0.3–0.6 in) wide. Flowering plants have a rosette at the base of the flowering spike but the leaves are usually withered by flowering time. Up to twelve reddish-brown flowers with translucent panels and 30–37 mm (1.2–1.5 in) long, 7–9 mm (0.3–0.4 in) wide are borne on a flowering spike 150–350 mm (6–10 in) tall. The flowers lean forward and there are three to five stem leaves wrapped around the flowering spike. The dorsal sepal and petals form a hood or "galea" over the column with the dorsal sepal having a narrow tip 5–8 mm (0.2–0.3 in) long. The lateral sepals turn downwards, are about the same width as the galea and suddenly taper to narrow tips 13–20 mm (0.5–0.8 in) long which spread apart from each other. The labellum is fleshy, reddish-brown and insect-like, about 6 mm (0.2 in) long and 3 mm (0.1 in) wide with a channel along its mid-line. The "head" end has many short hairs and the "body" has ten to thirteen hairs up to 4 mm (0.2 in) long on each side. Flowering occurs from August to November
Taxonomic tree
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Domain: Eukarya
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Kingdom: Plantae
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Phylum:
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Class: Liliopsida
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Order: Asparagales
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Family: Orchidaceae
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Genus: Pterostylis
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