Sandhill Greenhood Orchid  |  

The Sandhill Greenhood Orchid is a solitary, tuberous terrestrial herb with a basal rosette of leaves growing to 8 cm across which are usually senescent at flowering. The flower stem grows to 25 cm in height, and elongates as flowers progressively open. Flowers have ‘hoods’ that are green and brown or red-brown with white markings, and are erect. Plants can have 1-10 flowers. The galea grows up to 2.2 cm in height and the apex has a fine decurved point. The lateral sepals are deflexed. The lamina is rounded but not particularly broad at the base with short sparse hairs along the margins, strongly veined, and with long fine divergent, not upswept, apices. The labellum is oblong, thick, red and channelled, with short marginal hairs.