Thelymitra alpina

Mountain Sun Orchid at Cotter River, ACT

Thelymitra alpina at Cotter River, ACT - 10 Dec 2017
Thelymitra alpina at Cotter River, ACT - 10 Dec 2017
Thelymitra alpina at Cotter River, ACT - 10 Dec 2017
Thelymitra alpina at Cotter River, ACT - 10 Dec 2017
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Identification history

Thelymitra alpina 6 Jan 2018 MichaelMulvaney
Thelymitra alpina 14 Dec 2017 TonyWood
Thelymitra sp. 13 Dec 2017 GlenRyan

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User's notes

At this location there were 11 plants (that I could see flowering) growing in grass/weeds along the roadside verge over about 100 metres. There was a lot of variation in these plants - some had smaller and/or less flowers plus there was a wide range of colours from blue to pink. Plant shown here was probably the showiest example with the most flowers out - and the pinkest colour. I have pretty much no experience at all with Thelymitra so was interested to find this diverse little batch on the side of the road. From a superficial thumb through Field Guide to Orchs ACT I guess T. alpina maybe ticks some boxes? But more for location / roadside verge etc rather than any precise botanical analysis ;) So very interested to see what the experts think! There was another Thelymitra growing further back into the forest just nearby with much more consistent flowers and form - plus a much wider leaf than the roadside verge plants. I'll post that separately. Cheers! Glen

3 comments

TonyWood wrote:
   14 Dec 2017
Hi Glen, my first impression was T. alpina, its the right location and image 3 appears to show two small horns on the dorsal part of the column which is a characteristic feature of that species. I did see a similar looking plant at Smokers Gap a couple of weeks ago which I have tentatively identified as T. brevifolia, mainly on the basis of its short broad leaf.
GlenRyan wrote:
   14 Dec 2017
Thanks Tony - I just added a few more images (including another leaf shot) of the variations slightly further up the hill on sighting 3387180. May or may not add something to the images here - hopefully there's something extra that helps! Cheers Glen
   7 Jan 2018
This should be regarded as probable identification rather than definitive - Thelymitra are difficult to ID from photos

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Location information

Sighting information

  • 11 Abundance
  • 10 Dec 2017 09:56 AM Recorded on
  • GlenRyan Recorded by

Additional information

  • True In flower
  • 10cm to 30cm Plant height

Species information

Record quality

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  • More than one media file
  • Confirmed by an expert moderator
  • Nearby sighting(s) of same species
  • GPS evidence of location
  • Description
  • Additional attributes
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