About Pterostylis vittata Lindl.
Pterostylis vittata Lindl. is a terrestrial, perennial, deciduous herb that grows from an underground tuber. Non-flowering individuals produce a rosette of three to seven leaves on a stalk 20 to 60 mm long. Each leaf in the rosette measures 10 to 30 mm long and 5 to 18 mm wide. When flowering, this species produces a spike 200 to 450 mm high that holds up to twenty five flowers. The flowering spike has between three and fourteen stem leaves, which are 20 to 50 mm long and 4 to 7 mm wide. The flowers are transparent green with darker green bands, measuring 12 to 15 mm long and 8 to 10 mm wide. The dorsal sepal and petals form a hood, called a "galea", that covers the column. The lateral sepals turn downward, are 9 to 10 mm long and 8 to 9 mm wide, and are joined at their bases. The labellum is green, hairy, insect-like, and about 4 mm long and 3 mm wide; it flicks upward when touched. Flowering takes place from May to September. This species, commonly called the banded greenhood, is distributed south of Perth and extends east as far as Balladonia. It grows in forest, woodland, and heath habitats, and occurs more frequently on granite outcrops in the eastern part of its range. It was previously believed to grow in South Australia, Victoria, and Tasmania, but all historic collections from those areas are now considered to be the species Pterostylis sanguinea.
