Flora of New Zealand Series

T. concinna Col. in T.N.Z.I.  20,  1888,  207.

T. fimbriata Col. in T.N.Z.I.  22,  1890,  490.

T. pachyphylla Cheesem. Man. N.Z.Fl.  1906,  1151.

T. caesia Petrie in T.N.Z.I.  51,  1919,  107.

Original localities: "Northern and Middle Islands. Colenso. Otago, Lyall". Type: K(?).

Plant at fl. 15–60 cm. tall. Stem stout, often > 3 mm. diam. Lf 6–10–20) mm. wide, channelled, thick and heavy. Infl. often > 6-fld. Per. 12–17 mm. long, us. between blue and pink with strong blue stripes, sts white with blue stripes, occ. clear pink overall. Sepels and petals sub-similar, rather broadly ovate, lateral sepals narrowest. Labellum distinctly more obovate. Column-arms us. higher than anther, flat, reddish, variously elaborated within one population of plants or even within one raceme; commonly the margins are thin, near the base red, toothed or even lobed (anteriorly or posteriorly or both), the upper teeth stretching out into branched fimbriae, also red, which gradually give way to much finer yellow fimbriae extending to the top of the arm; proportions of red to yellow, of teeth to fimbriae, of plain to ornamented margin seem quite unfixed, the simplest arm being short and thick with only a few small tufts of reddish hairs; post-anther lobe also variable, rarely taller than anther, its margin variously thickened or sts incurved or irregularly denticulate, us. dark reddish in its upper part and often edged with yellow, occ. ± tuberculate.

DIST.: N., S., St., Ch.

Clay banks, gumland, pakihi and other boggy places.

FL. (10)–11–12–(1).

T. concinna. Type locality: "Open country near the east bank of the River Mohaka, north of Napier; 1884: Mr. A. Hamilton." Type: Not found. Colenso had only a single specimen.

T. fimbriata. Original localities: "Open fern lands, interior; also in similar situations, Fortrose, Invercargill, whence specimen received in a packet: 1888". Lectotype: WELT 24274 B; packets labelled in Colenso's hand "Thelymitra fimbriata" and "Fortrose".

T. pachyphylla. Original localities: "South Island: Nelson—Vicinity of Westport, Townson! Westland—Kumara, Brame!" Lectotype: AK 3376(1) Vicinity Westport, 11/1905, W. Townson. Townson's collection is also represented by CANTY 79.6.2 bis, and by 550/1 in Herb. Carse. Cheeseman restricted the name T. pulchella to plants with "long erect coarsely jagged (not ciliate) lateral lobes of the column-wing, and broad and short middle lobe, which is much lower than the anther", and his figure (Ill. N.Z. Fl. 2, 1914, 192B) shows none of the fimbriae mentioned in Hooker's description. T. pachyphylla was characterised by a tall post-anther lobe and fimbriate column-arms.

T. caesia. Type locality: "Birkdale-Glenfield Reserve, Waitemata County . . . Mr H. B. Matthews". Lectotype: WELT 18401. At CANTY 548/1 in Herb. Carse is part of the original collection ("H.B.M. Glenfield 5–12–18") and this matches Petrie's carefully detailed description well, as do later specimens (CANTY 79.6.9.) collected and determined by Petrie in November 1919.

Hatch (T.R.S.N.Z. 79, 1952, 392–395) does not appear to have understood this species, no form of which is well represented in any of his figures.