Plate 192.— THELYMITRA LONGIFOLTA and 

 THELYMITRA PULCHELLA. 



Family ORCHIDACEiE.] [Genus THELYMITRA, Fokst. 



Thelymitra longifolia, Fuml. Char. Gen. 98, t. 49 ; Hook. j. Ilamlh. N .Z. Fl. 270 ; Cheesem. 



Man. N.Z. Fl. 669. 

 Thelymitra pulchella, Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel. i, 244 ; Cheesem. Man. N.Z. Fl. 670. 



For the first discovery of T helyrnitra longifolia we have to go as far 

 back as October, 1769, when it was gathered at Tolaga Bay by Banks and 

 Solander during Cook's first voyage. Solander, in his manuscript " Primitise 

 Floras Novae Zelandiaj," described it under the name of Serajnas rcgiilaris: 

 but as this work was never actually published his names have no standing 

 in botanical literature. It was also collected by the two Forsters in Cook's 

 second voyage, but in what locality is not stated, although it must have been 

 either in Queen Charlotte Sound or Dusky Bay. After their return it was 

 published in their " Characteres Generum Plantarum " under the name it 

 bears at the present time. It has been observed by almost all subsequent 

 botanists, and is now known to range from the Three Kings Islands and the 

 North Cape southwards to Stewai't Island and the Auckland Islands. It is 

 common at sea-level, and ascends the mountains to a height of over 4,000 ft. 

 Although mainly a heath-plant, and nowhere more abundant than on the 

 Leptospermum-c\ad hills that form such a large percentage of the northern 

 part of the North Island, it is really found in all soils and situations, with 

 the exception that it does not occur in dense forests, although occasionally 

 seen in light bush. When it is mentioned that in addition to lowland heaths 

 it is also plentiful on sand-dunes, ledges on seacliffs, the margins of swamps, 

 subalpine meadows, &c., it will be seen that its range of habitats is remark- 

 ably wide. It is said to have an extensive range in Australia; but the 

 specimens I have seen from thence hardly match those from New Zealand, 

 and if really belonging to the same species should be treated as a different 

 variety. It has also been recorded from New Caledonia. 



T. longifolia falls into a section of the genus known as Cncidlaria, in 

 which the column-wing is produced behind the anther, and overtops it in the 

 form of a hood-shaped projection furnished with lateral lobes. It is dis- 

 tinguished from the other species of the section by the very large middle lobe 

 of the column-wing, which forms a smooth rounded hood projecting over the 

 anther, and which considerably overtops the lateral lobes, which are closely 

 and densely ciliate at their tips. In the allied species of the section the 

 lateral lobes are longer than the middle lobe, which does not form such a 

 prominent hood. It is very variable in size, stoutness, and number of flowers, 

 varying from less than Gin. in height, with a single small flower, to 18 in. or 

 20 in., with twelve to fifteen large flowers. The colour of the flowers is 

 mainly white, wnth a greenish-))ur)ile tinge on the back of the three outer 

 perianth-segments ; but some varieties have blue flowers, and others pinkish- 

 red. For an account of the fertilization, see a paper by myself in the 

 " Transactions of the New Zealand Institute " (vol. xiii (1881) 291). 



Thelymitra pulcheUa was originallv discovered bv Mr. Colenso in the 

 North Island, but I am ignorant of the exact locality. It was first published 

 by Sir J. D. Hooker in the "Flora Novae Zelandiffi": but Hooker bracketed 

 with Colenso's plant sonie specimens collected by Lyall in Otago; and in the 



