Greenhood Orchids with Booby Traps
Some orchids can be sneaky. Greenhoods, or Pterostylis orchids, have a surprise in store for small flies, gnats, and mosquitoes. These strange flowers have tricky lips. As an insect enters the flower, the hinged lip snaps shut. This briefly imprisons the pollinator inside the bloom. The only escape route is a tight squeeze past the pollen. After a few minutes, the bug exits, the lip reopens, and the booby trap is reset for another visitor.
About 300 Greenhood species are native to Australia, New Zealand, New Guinea, New Caledonia, and Indonesia. The photos above show the lips of three species. In the center of each blossom, they look like little twisted tongues rather than flower lips. There are additional Greenhood photos in the article at In Defense of Plants.
To learn more, check out an old blog post about a Greenhood orchid I used to grow, Pterostylis curta.
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