Pterostylis humilis
Common names
greenhood
Biostatus
Native – Endemic taxon
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Orchids
Flower colours
Green, White
Detailed description
Terrestrial, tuberous, glabrous, spring to summer-green perennial herb, forming colonies through vegetative extension. Plant at flowering 45–50–(150) mm tall. Stem erect, smooth, dark green, to blue-green, immersed within a loose basal rosette of leaves until the fruiting ovary elongates the stem. Leaves erect to somewhat spreading, 3–4, margins entire, though usually undulose in the basal ⅓, overtopping the flower; lamina 40–90 × 15–25 mm, dark green to blue-green, broadly elliptic to oblong, apex obtuse to broadly subacute, base gradually narrowing into a broadly winged sheathing petiole. Flower solitary, erect, dark green, white striped. Ovary mostly erect. Dorsal sepal 20 mm tall, erect then horizontal; apex shortly acuminate. Lateral sepals diverging at a narrow angle, initially erect, apex acuminate to shortly caudate, overtopping galea. Petals almost as long as dorsal sepal, broad almost to apex. Labellum elliptic, shortly recurved, cucullate, scarcely protruding, apex acute, glabrous. Column slightly shorter than labellum; stigma prominent, broadly cordate, upward facing.
Similar taxa
Very close to P. venosa Colenso from which it differs by the prominent, upturned, heart-shaped, stigma, which is little longer than wide, and by the glabrous labellum surface.
Distribution
Endemic. New Zealand: North Island (Central Volcanic Plateau and Mount Taranaki/Egmont), South Island (in the west from North-west Nelson to about the Buller River).
Habitat
Montane to subalpine in beech (Nothofagus Blume) forest and subalpine scrub. Often in deep drifts of leaf litter, or amongst mosses. Sometimes on bare ground or growing at the base of boulders.
Current conservation status
The conservation status of all known New Zealand vascular plant taxa at the rank of species and below were reassessed in 2022-2023 using the New Zealand Threat Classification System (NZTCS) – more information about this can be found on the NZTCS website. This report includes replaces all previous NZTCS lists for vascular plants. Previous assessments can be found here.
Please note, threat classifications are often suggested by authors when publications fall between NZTCS assessment periods – these interim threat classification statuses has not been assessed by the NZTCS panel.
- Conservation status of vascular plants in Aotearoa New Zealand, 2023. 2024. Peter J. de Lange, Jane Gosden, Shannel P. Courtney, Alexander J. Fergus, John W. Barkla, Sarah M. Beadel, Paul D. Champion, Rowan Hindmarsh-Walls, Troy Makan and Pascale Michel Department of Conservation. Source: NZTCS and licensed by DOC for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence.
2023 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon | Qualifiers: Sp
Threats
No apparent threats but not very common.
Detailed taxonomy
Family
Orchidaceae
Synonyms
None
Endemic taxon
Yes
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Ecology
Flowering
November–January
Fruiting
December–March
Propagation technique
Difficult—should not be removed from the wild. Basic orchid mix consists of 2 parts medium coarse sand, ideally clean river sand; 2 parts soil, humus or leaf-mould; 1 part weathered sawdust or rotting wood; 1 part granulated bark. For Pterostylis shade of 50% and pots kept evenly moist.
Other information
Where To Buy
Not commercially available
Etymology
pterostylis: Winged column
humilis: Lowest, dwarf, small, slight
Manaaki Whenua Online Interactive Key
NVS code
The National Vegetation Survey (NVS) Databank is a physical archive and electronic databank containing records of over 94,000 vegetation survey plots - including data from over 19,000 permanent plots. NVS maintains a standard set of species code abbreviations that correspond to standard scientific plant names from the Ngä Tipu o Aotearoa - New Zealand Plants database.
PTEHUM
Chromosome number
2n = 44
Previous conservation statuses
2017 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon | Qualifiers: Sp
2012 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon | Qualifiers: Sp
2009 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon
2004 | Not Threatened
Referencing and citations
References and further reading
Moore LB, Edgar E. 1970. Flora of New Zealand, Volume II. Indigenous Tracheophyta: Monocotyledones except Gramineae. Government Printer, Wellington, NZ. 354 p.
Attribution
Fact Sheet prepared for NZPCN by P.J. de Lange 14 April 2007: Description adapted from Moore and Edgar (1970).
Some of this factsheet information is derived from Flora of New Zealand Online and is used under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 New Zealand licence.
NZPCN Fact Sheet citation
Please cite as: de Lange, P.J. (Year at time of access): Pterostylis humilis Fact Sheet (content continuously updated). New Zealand Plant Conservation Network. https://www.nzpcn.org.nz/flora/species/pterostylis-humilis/ (Date website was queried)