Pterostylis torquata - the Jar Jar Binks of orchids

Pterostylis torquata

Pterostylis torquata is one of three of my Pterostylis species that I currently have. This is the only one flowering at the moment but the others may flower a bit later in the year. I have always enjoyed these comical Australian orchids. These orchids are not often offered for sale in South Africa, or commonly grown but I think they have a lot of charm and they do quite well given the same growing conditions as many of our local Winter rainfall terrestrial species. I am going to try to set some seeds on this species once another flower opens so I can do an out-crossing. I have sown Pterostylis species before and they seem to be a bit fiddly in vitro much like some of our Disa species. I have just finished reading an interesting article on asymbiotic germination and media comparison of some Australian terrestrial species: Dowling, N., and Jusaitis, M. (2012). Asymbiotic in vitro germination and seed quality assessment of Australian terrestrial orchids. Australian Journal of Botany. Pterostylis nutans performed well on BM-1, as did other genera. The authors recorded seedling development on the scale of 1-5, where 1 was an intact seed testa, 2 was a ruptured testa, 3 was the development of rhizoids, 4 was the start of shoot differentiation, and 5 was the emergence of the first leaf. The results only reflect the first 4 stages and I must wonder whether this was due to timing or whether none of the species tested actually made it to stage 5? I have actually noticed this before with BM-1 with other species where the germination rates are high but the protocorms only develop to a point. I guess I will have to wait and see what happens if I am successful in setting seeds on my plants..