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Swamp greenhood

Pterostylis paludosa

Swamp greenhood
Photo: Sebastian Doak, CC BY 4.0

Swamp greenhood is a small deciduous terrestrial orchid from New Zealand that grows from an underground tuber and bears a single translucent white flower with greenish stripes. It needs moist, boggy conditions and sun.

Family
Orchidaceae (Orchid family)
Grows as
Orchid
Light
Full sun
Water
Keep the soil consistently moist, as in its natural peat bog habitat, and avoid letting it dry out during growth.
Soil
Wet, peaty, acidic mix or sphagnum-based bog medium.
Temperature
Cool to mild temperate conditions; suited to frost-tolerant growing in New Zealand's climate.
How easy
Hard
Native range
N. & NC. New Zealand
Climate
subtropical

About

Pterostylis paludosa, commonly known as swamp greenhood, is a species of greenhood orchid endemic to New Zealand. As with similar orchids, plants in flower differ from those that are not. Those not in flower have a rosette of leaves on a short stalk but plants in flower lack a rosette and have a single flower with leaves on the flowering spike. This greenhood has a translucent white flower with pale to yellowish-green stripes.

Where it grows

This swamp greenhood grows in sunny places in peat bogs and heath. It is found on the North Island between the Great Barrier Island and Waiouru. On the South Island it is mainly found on the west coast between Nelson and Westport. It also grows on Chatham Island.

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 paludosa by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.

The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.

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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