Pterostylis erubescens

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Pterostylis erubescens, commonly known as the red sepaled snail orchid, is an orchid native to the southwest of Western Australia. When not flowering, its leaves form a rosette on the ground; flowering plants have a single green flower on a stem with leaves on the stem. It grows in forests, woodlands and around granite outcrops from Mandurah to Albany, across the Esperance Plains, Jarrah Forest, Swan Coastal Plain and Warren regions, and it is not considered threatened.

The flower has a hood-like upper part formed by fused sepals and petals (the galea) that sits over the column. The dorsal sepal tapers to a tip, while the side sepals stay close to the hood with long thread-like tips. The large labellum is hidden inside the flower. The flower starts green and ages to reddish-brown, and it blooms from late July to September.

The species was formally described in 2014 by David Jones and Christopher French, and it was previously known as Pterostylis sp. 'red flowered'. The name erubescens means reddening, referring to the color of the upper parts of the flowers.