(a) Th. longifolia var. forsteri (Sw.) Hh. n.comb.

Th. longifolia Forst. sens, strict.

Th. forstcri Sw. Vet. Akad., 21, 1800, 228

Th. nemoralis Col. Trans. N.Z. Inst., 17, 1885, 249

Th. purpurea-fusca Col. l.c.

Th. cornuta Col., ibid., 20, 1888, 206

Jord. (i). Up to 60 cm. high. Leaf up to 90 cm. long by 4 cm. broad (extreme measurements, seldom found as large as this), recurved, concave in young plants, flat in old, with exterior ridges, linear-acuminate. Flowers 1–24, white, pink, pale blue or maroon, perianth segments up to 14 mm. long; column inclined slightly backwards, pale pink. Midlobe higher than the anther, cucullate, truncate, emargrinate or almost bifid, brownish with a conspicuous yellow margin. Lateral lobes secondary, horizontal with short dense tufts of white cilia.

Jord. (ii). Morphologically similar to (i), but the whole plant pale green, the flowers and column pure white, the midlobe reddish brown with white instead of yellow margins.

Syn. Th. longifolia var. alba (Col.) Cheesmn. Man. N.Z. Flor., 2, 1925, 339. Th. alba Col. Trans. N.Z. Inst., 18, 1886, 272.

In the writer's opinion, Jord. (ii) is only a true-breeding colour form and cannot be given varietal rank—see Trans. R.S.N.Z., 77, 1949, 401—under Caladenia carnea.

Distribution. Endemic—both forms are abundant throughout the North and South Islands, extending to Stewart and the Chatham Islands.

Flowers Oct.–Dec., sea-level–5,000 ft. Jord. (i) appears to be derived from the Australian variety of longifolia, while Jord. (ii) is derived from Jord. (i). Large colonies or scattered in almost any situation from the summer snowline on Mt. Ruapehu to the salt-drenched cliffs of the West Coast, from the depths of the Urewera forests to the middle of a brick-dust footpath at Laingholm. It rivals Microtis unifolia in being the commonest orchid in the country. Forster's plate, quoted above, can be regarded as the hypotype of the variety.

(b) Th. longifolia var. stenopetala (Hook. f.) Hh. n.comb.

Th. atenopetala Hook. f. Flor. Ant., 1, 1844, 69

Superficially similar to var. forsteri, differing in the rather large midlobe and the lateral lobes with their cilia finer, longer, more lax and set more after the manner of Th. pauciflora.

Distribution. Endemic—Auckland Islands, 2.1943–5, J. F. Findlay.

Flowers Dec.–Feb., sea-level–500 ft.; related to and probably derived from var. forsteri (Jord. (i). All the specimens collected from these islands and referred to longifolia by Hooker and subsequent writers, probably belong to this jordanon. Certainly during three seasons the Cape Expedition were on the Aucklands only the one form appeared to occur.

(c) Th. longifolia var. intermedia (Bergg.) Hh. n.comb.

Th. intermedia Bergg. Minneskr. Fisiog., 1877, 21, t5, f21–4

Up to 30 cm. high. Leaf up to 20 cm. long, recurved, shallow concave or eventually flat with exterior ridges, linear-acuminate. Flowers 1–6, rose-pink, perianth segments up to 8 mm. long. Column erect, rather narrow, pale pink (sometimes with darker striae). Midlobe shorter than the anther, slightly cucullate, bifid or truncate. Lateral lobes secondary, oblique, with thin tufts of white cilia.

Distribution. Endemic—2. (North Auckland), 3a. (Kaipara), 3b. (Waikato), 3c. (Thames), 5. (Volcanic Plateau), occasional throughput, particularly common in the Hunua Ranges.

Flowers Nov.-Jan., sea-level–2,000 ft.; small colonies in scrub. Related to and probably derived from var. forsteri Jord. (i).

Cheeseman (Illus. N.Z. Flor., 2, 1914, letterpress to t192a) expressed the opinion that the Australian form of longifolia would be better treated as a variety since it differed in many respects from the New Zealand form. Rupp (Orch. N.S.W., 1943, 8) came to the same conclusion, but did not make the necessary changes. The present writer studied the whole group and found that the usual conception of longifolia actually consisted of 6 quite distinct jordanons. No attempt has been made here to define the Australian and New Caledonian jordanons beyond suggesting that the name var. australis be given to the Australian form and var. neocaledonica to the New Caledonian. Hooker's stenopetala has been resurrected for the Auckland Islands form and Swartz’ forsteri for the typical New Zealand jordanon, thus confirming Hooker's original opinion: “… my… stenopetala is probably a variety of… forsteri…” Berggren's intermedia is so frequently mistaken for longifolia that it seems better to include it as a variety. It is undoubtedly derived from var. forsteri and is very closely related to it indeed.

12. Th. pauciflora R. Br. Prodr., 1810, 314

Up to 40 cm. high. Leaf up to 30 cm. long, recurved, concave with exterior ridges, linear-acuminate. Flowers 1–10, pale- to deep-blue, shading to maroon, perianth segments up to 12 mm. long. Column inclined slightly backwards, pale blue. Midlobe higher than the anther, cucullate, deeply bifid, reddish-brown shading to bright yellow at the top. Lateral lobes secondary, shortly horizontal, then abruptly erect and tipped with short tufts of white cilia.

Distribution. Australia—occasional throughout New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia. New Zealand—2. (North Auckland), 3a. (Kaipara), 3b. (Waikato). 3c. (Thames), abundant throughout. 5. (Volcanic Plateau), Tangiwai, 1.1945. E. D. Hatch. 7. (Ruahine-Cook), Wallaceville Hill, 12.1946, J. Johnston. Silverstream, 11.1949, A. P. Druce.

Flowers Sep.-Jan., sea-level–2,500 ft.; scattered in grass, scrub and along roadsides; probably derived from aristata.

13. Th. sanscilia Irwin ex Hh. n.sp.

Thelymitra pauciflora affinis, subsimitis. Differentis in habitus gracilis, in alae columnae vis late bifida et pulliviridis, et in labae laterales vis horizontalis et nullus cilia.