Journal Number 100
August 2006

THE COLUMN

An Historic Document
By Eric Scanlen

On 27 November 1969, after consultation with Dan Hatch who had identified the orchids for me,
I sent three slides to Dr LB Moore to try and convince her that Thelymitra ixioides (as we knew it
then) flowered a month earlier and was different from T. aemula.  They were growing in adjacent
sites in the Hunua ranges which gave one an ideal opportunity to compare species.

The photos below show cropped versions of the pictures I sent, and her polite and encouraging
reply is reproduced below them.

Time and chromosome counts have elucidated matters but the Column's inclusion of T. tholiformis
here only helped to "prove" the variability within the species. Be wary of that phrase; it is beloved of
lumpers.