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Key.
| 1. Column longer than the labellum | sesamoides |
| Column very much shorter than the labellum | 2 |
| 2. Column-wings involute, labellum clawed at the base | ounninghamii |
| Column-wings straight, erect, labellum broad at the base | minor |
1. Gastrodia sesamoides R. Br. Prodr., 1810, 330.
Up to 60 cm. high. Flowers up to 10, dirty-white, pendant, vaguely gibbous. Labellum on a short narrow claw, the base with the margins thickened and brought together in a symmetrical constriction. Lamina recurved, with several irregular linear calli. Underside narrowly cleft, margins inrolled. Column sub-erect, longer than the labellum, column-wings with thickened margins.
Distribution.—Australia—recorded from all the States, not uncommon. New Zealand—2, Kaitaia, R. H. Matthews; Ahipara, 12, 1918, H. B. Matthews. 3a, Northern Wairoa, T. F. Cheeseman; Silverdale, 12, 1946, F. W. Bartlett; Great Barrier Is., 11, 1944, E. G. Hartwell; 4, 5, occasional in lowland areas; 7, Tararua Ranges, 12, 1910, B. C. Aston; 11, Kelly's Creek, D. Petrie.
Flowers August-January, sea-level-2,000 ft., small colonies in scrub or grass. Probably windborne originally across the Tasman.
2. Gastrodia cunninghamii Hook. f. Fl. Nov. Zel., 1, 1853, 251.
G. leucopetala Col. Trans. N.Z. Inst., 18, 1886, 268.
Up to 100 cm. high. Stem brownish-green with purple markings. Flowers up to 40, brownish, mottled with green, pendant, prominently gibbous. Labellum similar to that in G. sesamoides lamina, with 2 linear calli uniting near the tip. Column very short, barely a quarter as high as the labellum. Column-wings involute.
Distribution.—Endemic—not uncommon throughout New Zealand, Stewart and Chatham Islands.
Flowers November-January, sea-level-3,000 ft., small colonies on the forest floor. Probably derived from the Asiatic forms by way of New Guinea.
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3. Gastrodia minor Petr., Trans. N.Z. Inst., 25, 1893, 273, t. 20.
Up to 30 cm. high. Stem plain brown. Flowers up to 9, brownish, sub-erect, vaguely gibbous. Labellum broad at the base, margins crisped, lamina with 2, more or less confluent linear calli. Column similar to that in G. cunninghamii, but with short, erect column-wings.
Distribution. — Endemic — 5, Taupo, 1, 1934, K. W. Allison; National Park, 12, 1921, H. B. Matthews; Murimotu, 3, 1945, E. D. Hatch; 15, Dunedin, D. Petrie; Lake Manapouri, 1, 1945, G. Simpson.
Flowers December-January, sea-level–3,000 ft.; large colonies in grass or scrub. Probably derived from G. cunninghamii.
Petrie's figure of the column is reproduced here for the purpose of comparison, but it is actually incorrect since it represents the column as having no stigma and being in the centre of the ovary. In fact, it has a very distinct stigma and is to one side of the ovary as in the other species.
The descriptions and illustrations have been drawn from living material examined by the writer. Thanks are due to Mr. Cedric Smith, of Stewart Island, for living specimens of Lyperanthus antarcticus, and to Mr. F. W. Bartlett, of Silverdale, for similar material of Gastrodia sesamoides.