Pterostylis nana
R.Br. Dwarf GreenhoodFlowering plant to 15 cm tall, stem very slender, smooth or slightly rough. Rosette leaves 3–8, ovate to cordate, 0.5–2 cm long, 0.4–1 cm wide, petiolate to nearly sessile, margins entire, flat or crinkled. Flower 10–15 mm long, erect, narrow, pale green and white; galea apex flat to obliquely erect; dorsal sepal shortly acuminate; lateral sepals erect, tightly embracing the galea, sinus flat with a dark green central area prominent from the front, the interior with a short ligulate dark green lobe, flat or shallowly mounded when viewed from the side, free points filiform to clavate, 10–15 mm long, erect; petals broad, subacute. Labellum ovate-oblong, 3.5–5 mm long, 1.5–2 mm wide, apex brown, obtuse, the tip not visible from the sinus in the set position. Flowers Jul.–Oct.
LoM, MuM, Wim, GleP, VVP, VRiv, RobP, MuF, GipP, OtP, WaP, Gold, CVU, GGr, DunT, NIS, EGL, EGU, WPro, HSF, HNF, OtR. Also SA, NSW, Tas. Grows in a wide range of habitats, from mallee scrubs to coastal heathland, particularly favouring sheltered sites in open-forest, on well-drained soils.
A complex of taxa at present under investigation.
Jones, D.L. (1994). Pterostylis. In: Walsh, N.G.; Entwisle, T.J., Flora of Victoria Vol. 2, Ferns and Allied Plants, Conifers and Monocotyledons, pp. 798–830. Inkata Press, Melbourne.