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Thelymitra matthewsii
Also called Matthews's Spiral Sun Orchid
Thelymitra matthewsii, commonly called spiral sun orchid or spiral leaved sun orchid, is a species of orchid in the family Orchidaceae and native to New Zealand and Australia. It has a single erect leaf, spiralling around the flowering stem and a single dark purple flower with darker veins and yellow ear-like arms on the sides of the column.
Spiral sun orchid grows in open forest and disturbed sites such as recently exposed soil in gullies. It is found on the extreme north of the North Island of New Zealand, in widely separated sites in Victoria and in south-eastern South Australia. It was previously more widespread in New Zealand then thought to be extinct there until it was rediscovered in the 1980s. It appears to be extinct at the type location.
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 matthewsii by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts are shared under the same licence.
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.
