New Zealand Native Orchids

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Microtis arenaria

Notched Onion Orchid

Tahanga Road, Kaingaroa 10 October 2022. Photo: Bill Campbell
Photo: Bill Campbell
Recorded distribution
Recorded distribution

Plant

To 25cm tall with numerous greenish-yellow flowers.

Flowers

3-5 mm long, labellum deeply notched at its tip, with a back-facing point between the lobes; dorsal sepal with a tiny upturned tip. Ovary characteristically hump-backed.

Flowering

October.

Habitat

Sandy soil, dry gumland in scrub, dunes. Northland

Conservation

Uncommon, vagrant.

Notes

Common Australian species.

Key features

Hump-backed ovary and forked tip to the labellum

Photos

Tahanga Road, Kaingaroa 10 October 2022. Photo: Bill Campbell
Tahanga Road, Kaingaroa 10 October 2022. Photo: Bill Campbell
Photo: Ian St George
Photo: Ian St George
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