Thelymitra malvina
Sun Orchid

PLANT: Terrestrial tuberous herb.
Up to 40cm high when in flower. Tall and slender. Often solitary.

LEAVES: Single leaf. Wide and relatively flat in cross-section.

FLOWERS: Up to 10 flowers.
2 - 3.5cm across. Petals pale to deep mauve. Sepals often paler than petals, fading towards the margins. Labellum usually shorter than the petals, deep to pale mauve-violet. Top of the column shaped like an inverted scoop. Column violet-mauve, midlobe reddish brown, tip yellow. Cilia mauve-pink.

FLOWERING TIME: October - November.

HABITAT: Wetlands, often growing from old rotting Kauri logs.

CONSERVATION STATUS: Non Resident Native - Coloniser.

NOTES: An Australian species now established in the Far North.
Flowers open wide on still sunny days.