Shy Sun Orchid
Thelymitra graminea
Summary 3
Thelymitra graminea, commonly called the shy sun orchid, is a species of orchid in the family Orchidaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It has a single leathery, channelled leaf and up to ten relatively small blue, self-pollinating flowers with white, toothbrush-like tufts on the top of the anther. There is 4 blue sun orchid species occurring around the Porongurup causing much confusion for identification. Thelymitra macrophylla flowers early and is the largest of them and easily distinguished by its large broad, longitudinally ridged leaf. Of the other 3, T. vulgaris has the smallest often cupped flowers (15-20mm Sept-Oct) and can be blue, mauve or white; T. graminea has dark blue, purple or mauve flowers 20-30mm Oct-Nov; and T. paludosa has sweetly fragrant flowers 20-40mm Nov-Jan that may be blue, pink or white.
Sources and Credits
- (c) Loxley Fedec, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Loxley Fedec
- (c) Loxley Fedec, all rights reserved, uploaded by Loxley Fedec
- (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), https://www.inaturalist.org/guide_taxa/1106547
More Info
- iNat taxon page
- Atlas of Living Australia
- Biodiversity Heritage Library
- BOLD Systems BIN search
- eFloras.org
- Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)
- HOSTS - a Database of the World's Lepidopteran Hostplants
- IPNI (with links to POWO, WFO, and BHL)
- SEINet Symbiota portals
- Tropicos
- World Flora Online
