Pterostylis is a terrestrial

Terrestrial plant

A terrestrial plant is one that grows on land. Other types of plants are aquatic , epiphytic , lithophytes and aerial ....

 deciduous genus of some 100 or so species of orchids found mainly in New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

, Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

, Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea , officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands...

 and New Caledonia

New Caledonia

New Caledonia is a special collectivity of France located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, east of Australia and about from Metropolitan France. The archipelago, part of the Melanesia subregion, includes the main island of Grande Terre, the Loyalty Islands, the Belep archipelago, the Isle of...

. The common name of this orchid is Greenhood - a number of species have green flowers with the dorsal sepal forming a "hood" over the rest of the flower. The name Pterostylis is based on the Greek words meaning winged column (pteron - a wing, stylis - a column

Column (botany)

The column, or technically the gynostemium, is a reproductive structure that can be found in several plant families: Aristolochiaceae, Orchidaceae, and Stylidiaceae....

). In a number of species, the flower has a hinged lip

Labellum

Labellum is the Latin diminutive of labium, meaning lip. These are anatomical terms used descriptively in biology, for example in Entomology and botany.-Botany:...

 that swings backwards when touched by an insect, forming a tube with the column

Column (botany)

The column, or technically the gynostemium, is a reproductive structure that can be found in several plant families: Aristolochiaceae, Orchidaceae, and Stylidiaceae....

 and wings. The trapped insect is then forced to crawl out of the tube, removing the pollinia in the process.

Species

• Pterostylis acuminata
• Pterostylis agathicola
• Pterostylis alobula
• Pterostylis alpina
  Pterostylis alpina
  Pterostylis alpina, commonly known as the Alpine Greenhood, is an orchid species that is endemic to Australia....
  
  
• Pterostylis alveata
• Pterostylis areolata
• Pterostylis auriculata
• Pterostylis australis
• Pterostylis banksii
  • var. banksii
  • var. silvicultrix
• Pterostylis baptistii
  Pterostylis baptistii
  Pterostylis baptistii, commonly known as King Greenhood, is an orchid species that is endemic to Australia....
  
  
• Pterostylis barbata
  Pterostylis barbata
  Pterostylis barbata Lindl. or Bird Orchid is endemic to the southwest of Western Australia. Pterostylis barbata is a perennial herb that grows to 30 cm, it was first described by John Lindley from collections made by James Drummond and Georgiana Molloy of the Swan River Colony in Western...
  
  
• Pterostylis basaltica
• Pterostylis brumalis
• Pterostylis caulescens
• Pterostylis cardiostigma
• Pterostylis cernua
• Pterostylis coccina
• Pterostylis collina
• Pterostylis concinna
• Pterostylis cucullata
• Pterostylis curta
  Pterostylis curta
  Pterostylis curta is a species of orchid endemic to New Caledonia and eastern and southeastern Australia. It is the type species of the genus Pterostylis....
  
  
• Pterostylis cycnocphala
• Pterostylis despectans
• Pterostylis foliata
• Pterostylis gibbosa
• Pterostylis graminea
• Pterostylis grandiflora
  Pterostylis grandiflora
  Pterostylis grandiflora is a species of orchid endemic to eastern Australia....
  
  
• Pterostylis humilis
• Pterostylis irsoniana
• Pterostylis irwinii
• Pterostylis melagramma
  Pterostylis melagramma
  Pterostylis melagramma is a species of orchid endemic to southeastern Australia....
  
  
• Pterostylis micromega
• Pterostylis montana
  • var. montana
  • var. rubricaulis
• Pterostylis mutica
• Pterostylis nana
• Pterostylis nutans
  Pterostylis nutans
  Pterostylis nutans, commonly known as the Nodding Greenhood or the Parrot's Beak Orchid, is an orchid species native to Australia and New Zealand....
  
  
• Pterostylis oliveri
• Pterostylis ophioglossa
• Pterostylis papuana
• Pterostylis parviflora
• Pterostylis patens
• Pterostylis paludosa
• Pterostylis plumosa
• Pterostylis porrecta
• Pterostylis praetermissa
• Pterostylis puberula
• Pterostylis recurva
  Pterostylis recurva
  Pterostylis recurva is a species of orchid endemic to west-southwestern and Southwest Australia.- Description :Pterostylis recurva is a perennial herb. It flowers in early spring during August - October. The flowers are striped green and white, the perianth forms a hollow tube with a hinged lip,...
  
  
• Pterostylis reflexa
• Pterostylis revoluta
• Pterostylis rufa
• Pterostylis sanguinea
• Pterostylis saxicola
• Pterostylis stenochila
  Pterostylis stenochila
  Pterostylis stenochila is a species of orchid endemic to Tasmania....
  
  
• Pterostylis tanypoda
• Pterostylis tasmanica
• Pterostylis tristis
• Pterostylis trullifolia
  • var. gracillis
  • var. trullifolia
• Pterostylis valida
  Pterostylis valida
  Pterostylis valida, commonly known as the Robust Greenhood, is a terrestrial orchid species that is endemic to Victoria, south-eastern Australia...
  
  
• Pterostylis venosa
• Pterostylis woolsii