Pterostylis venosa
Common names
greenhood
Biostatus
Native – Endemic taxon
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Orchids
Flower colours
Green, Yellow
Detailed description
Terrestrial, tuberous, glabrous, spring to summer-green perennial herb, forming small patches of 3–many plants through vegetative extension. Plant at flowering (30)–50–100 mm tall. Stem erect, smooth, dark green, to reddish green, usually immersed within a loose basal rosette of leaves until the fruiting ovary elongates the stem. Leaves erect to somewhat spreading, 2–4, margins entire, though usually undulose in the basal ⅓, overtopping or at least equally the flower; lamina 30–60 × 10–25 mm, dark green to yellow green, broadly oval, rarely orbicular, apex obtuse to broadly subacute, base gradually narrowing into a broadly winged sheathing petiole. Flower solitary, erect, dark green to yellow green, white striped. Ovary mostly erect. Dorsal sepal 15 mm tall, erect then horizontal; apex acute to very shortly acuminate. Lateral sepals diverging at a narrow angle, initially erect, apex acuminate to shortly caudate, scarcely overtopping galea. Petals almost as long as dorsal sepal, broad almost to apex. Labellum narrowly triangular, arcuate, protruding. apex subacute, inner surface copiously invested with short retrorse hairs imparting a furry appearance. Column shorter than labellum; stigma narrow elliptic, not upturned.
Similar taxa
Very close to P. humilis from which it differs by the very narrow stigma which is not upturned or prominently heart-shaped, and by the abundant short retrorse hairs on the labellum surface.
Distribution
Endemic. New Zealand: North Island, South Island, Stewart Island/Rakiura.
Habitat
Mostly montane extending to lowlands in the southern part of its range. Usually in beech (Nothofagaceae) forest where it often grows in deep, damp drifts of moss or leaf litter in heavy shade or well lighted situations.
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 | Not Threatened
Detailed taxonomy
Family
Orchidaceae
Synonyms
Pterostylis confertifolia Allan, Pterostylis trifolia Colenso
Endemic taxon
Yes
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Ecology
Flowering
October–February
Fruiting
December–April
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
venosa: Veined
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.
PTEVEN
Chromosome number
2n = 44
Previous conservation statuses
2017 | Not Threatened
2012 | Not Threatened
2009 | Not Threatened
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 venosa Fact Sheet (content continuously updated). New Zealand Plant Conservation Network. https://www.nzpcn.org.nz/flora/species/pterostylis-venosa/ (Date website was queried)