Pterostylis irwinii
Irwin's Greenhood

PLANT: Terrestrial tuberous herb.
Up to 30cm high when in flower. Slender. Stem often orange or red.

LEAVES: Slender, grass-like, and keeled, often with reddish or orange tints.

FLOWER: Solitary. Up to 2.5 cm high. Green with translucent white stripes. Ends of the dorsal and lateral sepals often tinged red or orange. Lateral sepals incurved causing them to lean forward of the flower. Labellum bronze, tapering, ± flat apart from a raised midrib. Stigma long and narrow.

FLOWERING TIME: November - December.

HABITAT: Damp ground in light scrub or forest.

CONSERVATION STATUS: Threatened - Nationally Endangered.

NOTES: Originally discovered in forest at Erua on the Volcanic Plateau. Records now extend as far south as Arthur's Pass where a colony of 100 plants has recently been recorded.