Cobra (Superb) Greenhood

I’ve posted on this orchid previously but it is such a delight to come across Pterostylis grandiflora that I reckon it deserves another mention.

Map Credit: Flora of Victoria, Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria – vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au

The Cobra Greenhood is listed Endangered in the Victorian Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act. You could say it is a good Gippsland orchid. In recent years it seems to be disappearing from some locations where it was regularly found. It is also found in Tasmania, New South Wales and southern Queensland and often has the alternative common name of Superb Greenhood.

I found this one recently in Uralla Reserve, Trafalgar, where it was growing as a single plant. I haven’t seen a ‘colony’ of P. grandiflora for some time. In this district Cobra Greenhoods are usually found in flower from May to August. It tends to grow in shady woodland habitat from the southern slopes of the Great Divide right down to the coast.

Despite its rarity, the Cobra Greenhood is often grown by orchid enthusiasts with relative ease (compared to many other terrestrial orchids