Classification
Class
Magnoliopsida Brongn.
Order
Asparagales Link
Family
Orchidaceae Juss.
Genus
Pterostylis R.Br.
 Nomenclature
Scientific Name:
Pterostylis australis Hook.f., Bot. Antarct. Voy. II. (Fl. Nov.-Zel.) Part I, 248 (1853)
 Description

Plant c. 10–25 cm. tall at fl. Stem us. erect, smooth, internodes < lvs. Lvs mostly 4–5, the shape changing from below upwards; lamina c. 4–15 × 1–1.6 cm., the lowest, and those on non-flowering plants, elliptic, occ. broadly, subacute, subsessile or with winged petiole; middle lvs longer, relatively narrower, sts long and almost grasslike, 1, 2 or none of the lvs overtopping fl. Fl. solitary, ovary us. erect. Dorsal sepal c. 2.5–3.5–(4.5) cm. tall, often rather smoothly arcuate but sts erect below then horizontal above, acuminate to shortly caudate; lateral sepals diverging at a narrow angle, tips long-acuminate to caudate, sts considerably overtopping galea, or bent strongly backwards. Petals shorter than dorsal sepal, acute or acuminate. Labellum lanceolate-oblong, little arched, broad almost to middle then narrowing above to obtuse tip, the margins there ± deflexed and inclined to be pinched in. Column about as tall as labellum; stigma long-oval, often as broad as column, sts overlapped by wings from above.

[From: Moore and Edgar (1970) Flora of New Zealand. Volume 2.]

 Biostatus
Indigenous (Endemic)
 Phenology

Flowering: Dec.–Jan.

 Bibliography
de Lange, P.J.; Rolfe, J.R.; Barkla J.W.; Courtney, S.P.; Champion, P.D.; Perrie, L.R.; Beadel, S.N.; Ford, K.A.; Breitwieser, I.; Schönberger, I.; Hindmarsh-Walls, R.; Heenan, P.B.; Ladley, K. 2018: Conservation status of New Zealand indigenous vascular plants, 2017. New Zealand Threat Classification Series. No. 22. [Not Threatened]
de Lange, P.J.; Rolfe, J.R.; Champion, P.D.; Courtney, S.P.; Heenan, P.B.; Barkla, J.W.; Cameron, E.K.; Norton, D.A.; Hitchmough, R.A. 2013: Conservation status of New Zealand indigenous vascular plants, 2012. New Zealand Threat Classification Series 3. Department of Conservation, Wellington. [Not Threatened]
Hooker, J.D. 1852–1853 ("1853"): The Botany of the Antarctic Voyage of H.M. Discovery Ships Erebus and Terror in the Years 1839–1843, under the command of Captain Sir James Clark Ross. II. Flora Novae-Zelandiae. Part I. Flowering plants. Lovell Reeve, London.
Jones, D.L.; Clements, M.A.; Molloy, B.P.J 2002: A Synopsis of the Subtribe Pterostylidinae. Australian Orchid Research 4: 129–146.