Pterostylis tenuissima
| Swamp greenhood | |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Monocots |
| Order: | Asparagales |
| Family: | Orchidaceae |
| Genus: | Pterostylis |
| Species: | P. tenuissima |
| Binomial name | |
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Pterostylis tenuissima Nicholls |
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| Synonyms | |
Pterostylis tenuissima, commonly known as the swamp greenhood, is a species of orchid endemic to the southern mainland of Australia. As with similar greenhoods, the flowering plants differ from those which are not flowering. The non-flowering plants have a rosette of leaves flat on the ground but the flowering plants have a single flower with leaves on the flowering spike. This greenhood has small translucent white flowers with dark green stripes and markings and both the sepal and sepals have relatively long, thread-like tips.
Pterostylis tenuissima is a terrestrial, perennial, deciduous, herb with an underground tuber and when not flowering, a rosette of egg-shaped leaves lying close to the ground, each leaf 3–20 mm (0.1–0.8 in) long and 2–7 mm (0.08–0.3 in) wide. Flowering plants have a single flower 12–15 mm (0.5–0.6 in) long and 6–8 mm (0.2–0.3 in) wide borne on a flowering stem 100–300 mm (4–10 in) mm high with between three and seven stem leaves. The flowers are translucent white with dark green stripes and markings. The sepal and petals are fused, forming a hood or "galea" over the column. The dorsal sepal curves forward and downward with a thread-like tip 10–15 mm (0.4–0.6 in) long. The sepals are held closely against the galea with erect, thread-like tips 20–25 mm (0.8–1 in) long. The sinus between the lateral sepals bulges forward and has a V-shaped notch in the centre. The labellum is 6–8 mm (0.2–0.3 in) long, about 2 mm (0.08 in) wide, dark brown, slightly curved and protrudes above the sinus. Flowering occurs from October to February.
Pterostylis tenuissima was first formally described in 1950 by William Nicholls from a specimen collected near Nelson and the description was published in The Victorian Naturalist. The specific epithet (tenuissima) is the form of the Latin word tenuis meaning "thin", hence "thinnest".
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