Plant
With a thick, deeply keeled leaf.
Flowers
To10mm diameter, blue, white, pink or mauve, usually heavily striped. Column reddish blue with darker stripes, shorter than anther. Column top open, sloping back slightly, smooth and yellow tipped, or ragged and orange, brown or yellow with the edge rolled forward; taller than the anther. Column arms stout, flat. Cilia coarse yellow, often absent.
Flowering
November - December.
Habitat
Sea level to montane, wetlands, peat, damp scrub.
Conservation
Widespread, often abundant: not threatened.
Notes
A very variable species. one of a few with striped flowers; column arms may be almost bare blades or carrying seaweed-like coarse cilia. Synonyms are T. fimbriata, T. pachyphylla and T. caesia. T. “sansfimbria” is a distinct unstriped form from Northland.
Key features
Striped petals, column arms angular with few yellow cilia.
