SPECIES: Pterostylis oreophila – Blue-tongued Greenhood
CLASSIFICATION: Critically endangered
This is the Blue-tongued Greenhood, if ever there was a more descriptive name. With dark green fleshy leaves, a single green and white striped flower, curved lips blueish-green in colour and a bulky green hood. Endemic to the south-east of Australia, they like to grow in moist soil and muddy ground with water closeby. Their distribution has become very restricted due to fragmentation.
To the few small remaining populations, the large list of threats includes grazing, logging, feral pigs, fire, weed invasion and a lack of genetic diversity.
Photo: C & M Rowan