Plant
With leaves narrow, concave upwards in wiry clumps. The stems, bracts, ovaries and the backs of the sepals usually dusky brown-purple, but there are green forms
Flowers
Few, blue-grey. Column pale mauve, top rounded dark brown to black, tipped yellow, weakly cleft. Column arms short with dense white cilia. Flowers rarely open, but may do so on hot sunny days.
Flowering
November - December.
Habitat
Sea level to montane, in association with beech. Distribution uncertain as often confused with other purple stemmed Thelymitra.
Conservation
Widespread, sparse, not threatened.
Notes
Not currently recognised but representative of a range of forms named by Colenso that occur mostly in beech forests especially in the South Island. Others include T. nemoras, and T. alba (see Journal 166). More slender than T. “Whakapapa”, the leaf much narrower than T. longifolia.
Key features
Plants small clumped, leaves erect, flowers small, whitish, column tall erect.
