The little Pterostylis sp. that I picked up at the Gothenburg International Orchid Show last weekend is now blooming. The Pterostylis name comes from the Greek words meaning winged column (pteron – a wing, stylis – a column), but the common name is Greenhood after the shape of dorsal sepal. Quite frankly, I think it looks more like an alien than anything else, and it is a very cool little flower.
Pterostylis is a terrestrial genus from New Zealand, Australia, Papua New Guinea and New Caledonia. I’ve never grown them before and I am actually not really that fond of dormant bulbs… but these flowers were just amazing. So I am giving it a go. It grows in cool tempered grasslands in partial shade and the plants drops its leaves and die down, pulling back to a resting bulb in the summer to fall. During the dormancy you keep the growing media completely dry and place it in a cool place in partial shade until the plant start to grow again. We’ll see how I do with it.
Karma, I have encountered Pterostylis banksii “in the flesh” deep in the New Zealand bush and let me tell you, small as these little orchids are, they have a very definite “presence”, even in the vastness of their natural surroundings. I am not surprised this one has enchanted you, and I’ll keep an eye out for your future reports on progress!
Patricia
Thanks Patricia. Yes, I imagine it would be quite something to see a filed covered with these little guys. 🙂 How nice to be able to see them in-situ.