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Dwarf shell orchid

Pterostylis brevichila

Family
Orchidaceae (Orchid family)
Grows as
Orchid
Native range
Western Australia
Climate
subtropical

About

Pterostylis brevichila, commonly known as dwarf shell orchid, is a species of orchid endemic to the south-west of Western 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. In this species, the flower is small and white with brown stripes and is similar to P. aspera but smaller in stature.

Where it grows

Dwarf shell orchid grows in mallee woodland, often in melaleuca thickets, between Hyden and Mount Arid in the Cape Arid National Park in the Coolgardie, Esperance Plains and Mallee biogeographic regions.

Other Pterostylis plants

Tablelands greenhood · Needle-point rustyhood · Pterostylis actites · Sharp greenhood · Long-tongued summer greenhood · Kauri Greenhood · Sutton Grange Greenhood · Striped greenhood · Shy greenhood · Winter Greenhood · Alpine greenhood · Coastal greenhood

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Pterostylis brevichila by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts are shared under the same licence.

Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.

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