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Inflated sun orchid

Thelymitra inflata

Inflated sun orchid
Photo: Connor Margetts, CC0

Inflated sun orchid is a small tuberous orchid native to woodland and forest in south-eastern Australia, grown for its dark blue flowers that open only on warm, sunny days. Give it cool, moist conditions in its dormant season and bright light while it flowers.

Family
Orchidaceae (Orchid family)
Grows as
Orchid
Light
Full sun, Part shade
Water
Keep the soil moist during the growing and flowering season and water sparingly while dormant.
Soil
Free-draining, sandy or loamy soil, or a gritty terrestrial orchid mix.
Temperature
10–25 °C; tolerates cool winters but should be protected from hard frost.
How easy
Hard
Native range
SE. Australia
Climate
subtropical

About

Thelymitra inflata, commonly called inflated sun orchid, is a species of orchid that is endemic to south eastern Australia. It has a single long, erect, linear leaf and up to six dark blue to purplish flowers with a very inflated lobe on top of the anther.

Where it grows

Inflated sun orchid usually grows in woodland and forest near Hobart in Tasmania, in a few sites in south-western Victoria, and in scattered sites in south-eastern South Australia.

Other Thelymitra plants

Abrupt Sun Orchid · Wyong sun orchid · Gumland sun orchid · Bleak sun orchid · White sun orchid · Kath's sun orchid · Alpins striped sun orchid · Mountain sun orchid · Long-leaved sun orchid · Rabbit-eared sun orchid · Cleopatra's needles · Forest sun orchid

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Thelymitra inflata by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.

The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.

Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.

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