Thelymitra. | ORCHIDACEAE. 341 
and more membranous. Flowers 1-4, about din. diam., dark-blue, the 
two lateral petals obscurely spotted with brown. Sepals and petals ovate- 
oblong, subacute. Column short, stout, about 4 the length of the 
perianth, the wing continued behind the anther and longer than it, 3-lobed 5 
middle lobe the shortest but exceeding the anther, hood-shaped, truncate, 
the margin thick and fleshy and denticulate, the back minutely warted, 
the anterior angle on each side slightly produced and acute; lateral 
lobes much larger than the middle lobe, pointing forwards, terminated by 
a dense rounded brush of cilia. Anther broad; connective terminating 
in a stout horn-like point. 
Nort Istanp: Taumarere, Bay of Islands, J. H. Harvey! also at Cowes, 
Waiheke Island; Rotorua, Mrs. H. J. Matthews! Tirau, Upper Thames Valley, 
Waimarino Plains, hills near the base of Ngauruhoe, summit of Mount Kakaramea, 
altitude 4500 ft., 7. F. C. Altitudinal range, sea-level to 4500 ft. December— 
January. 
7. T. aemula Cheesem. in Trans. N.Z. Inst. li (4919) 94.—Stems stout 
or slender, 6-16 in. high. Leaf shorter than the stem, narrow-linear, thick, 
channelled in front. Cauline leaves or empty bracts 2, short, sheathing. 
Flowers 3-8; about din. diam., blue, rather closely placed in a raceme 
14-4 in. long. Sepals or petals oblong or ovate-oblong, obtuse or subacute. 
Column short, stout, broad at the base, narrowed above, winged, the wing 
extending behind the anther and free from it, except at the base, 5-lobed ; 
the 2 lateral lobes twice the length of the others, flat, narrow, erect, 
fringed with numerous branched fimbriae; middle lobe short and broad, 
thickened and denticulate at the tip, smooth or minutely tuberculate on 
the back; the two intermediate lobes distinct from the central one, broad, 
thick and fleshy, jagged at the top. Anther broad, connective produced 
into a pointed tip that just overtops the level of the median lobe of the 
column-wing. | 
- Norta Istanp: Leptospermum-clad hills from Kaitaia (Mongonui County) to: 
Auckland, H. B. Matthews! T. F.C. 
Doubtless closely allied to 7’. zxvo1des and the Australian 7. canaliculata, but differing: 
in the lateral lobes of the column being much longer, flattened and more copiously 
penicillate ; and the middle lobe, although denticulate at the top, is not conspicuously 
warted or crested at the back. The flowers appear to be invariably blue; but the: 
column is surrounded by a narrow band of violet just below the lobes, above which. 
the colour is bright-yellow. 
8. T. eaesia Petrie in Trans. N.Z. Inst. li (1919) 107.—Stem tall, 
slender, 1-3 ft. high. Leaf shorter than the stem, sheathing at the base, 
linear, fleshy, concave and grooved above. Empty bracts 2-3, sheathing, 
acuminate. Flowers 4-5, large, handsome, lavender-blue, 1-1} in. diam. 
Sepals and petals oblong or oblong-ovate, acute or subacute or apiculate. 
Column short, stout, not $ the length of the perianth, wing continued. 
behind the anther but shorter than it, 3-lobed ; middle lobe broad, thick 
and fleshy, tuberculate on the back, subtruncate along the top, yellowish- 
brown; lateral lobes as long as the anther, thin and flattened, margins 
cut into numerous fimbriate branched processes. Anther broad, connective 
produced into a slightly grooved tip. 
Nortu Istanp: Leptospermum-clad hills at Birkdale, near Auckland, H. B- 
Matthews ! ) | 
