Thelymitra aemula
Sun Orchid

PLANT: Terrestrial tuberous herb.
Slender to robust. Up to 40cm tall when in flower.

LEAVES: Single. Wide, fleshy, deeply channelled with a thick ridge.

FLOWERS: Up to 10 flowers. Often quite widely spaced. 1 - 1.5 cm across. Sepals and petals deep blue, sometimes flushed with greenish-yellow near the base. Column pale violet with a narrow brown or violet band below the yellow top. Has thin tufts of white cilia on pale mauve column arms.

FLOWERING TIME:
October - December.

HABITAT: Damp or dry ground in open kauri and gumland scrub.

CONSERVATION STATUS: Not threatened. Uncommon.

NOTES: Once considered to be an unspotted form of Thelymitra ixioides.