Thelymitra rubra Fitzg. 1867 Photo by Cathy Powers and her AUSTRALIAN TERRESTRIAL ORCHIDS OTHER FLORA & FAUNA BANJORAH Website
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Common Name The Reddish Thelymitra - The Salmon Sun Orchid - The Pink Sun Orchid
Flower Size .8 to 1" [2 to 2.5 cm]
Found in New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania and South Australia at elevations of sea level to 800 meters as a small sized, cold growing terrestrial occuring in heathlands, open forest and woodlands with a slender stem carrying a single, thin, channeled , linear leaf that blooms in the late winter and earlyspring on an erect, 9" [22.5 cm] long, 1 to5 flowered inflorescence with fragrant flowers that only open on sunny days hence the common name of "Sun Orchid".
Synonyms Thelymitra carnea var. rubra ( Fitzg. ) J.Z.Weber & R.J.Bates 1978; Thelymitra elizabethiae F.Muell. 1890; Thelymitra rubra var. magnanthera Rupp 1943; Thelymitra urnalis Fitzg. 1882
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; Orchids of Australia Nicholls 1969 drawing fide; Orchids of Australia Nicholls 1969 as T urnalis drawing fide; Australian Orchid Review Vol 67 No 1 2002 photo; Native Orchids of Australia Jones 2006 photo good
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