Flora of New Zealand Series

Pouch orchid.

Original locality: "Kaitaia, Mr H. B. Matthews, 10–31 Oct., 1917".

It was reported "that both species were plentiful, that they seeded freely, and showed practically no variations. On one occasion he collected about a hundred specimens of P. calyciformis and seventy of P. saccatus. In January, 1919, . . . in all three places where previously he had been accustomed to collect the cup-orchid, the tea-tree (Leptospermum scoparium), among which it grew, had been cleared for agricultural purposes." At AK there are specimens of P. calyciformis collected by Matthews in November 1924, but there seems to be no fresh record of Petalochilus in the last 40 years. Hatch discusses the genus in T.R.S.N.Z. 77, 1949, 398–399.

Amongst specimens collected by Matthews a "sigmoid appendage" can be found that, lacking the gibbous "cup-shaped summit", is very like a detached column-wing; an occasional labellum is not wholly petal-like, having a partly formed callus or a wrinkled margin reminiscent of the mid-lobe. Moreover, in Herb. Carse specimens of Caladenia carnea and Petalochilus have been found on one sheet, as if gathered together, and differing only in structures which occur in several genera as sporadic abnormalities. Although in general the flowers of Petalochilus were stated to be remarkably uniform, the temporary local abundance of these peculiarities scarcely seems an adequate basis for a genus of two species.