Common name: Red Sun Orchid, Salmon Sun Orchid
Thelymitra rubra Fitzg. APNI* 
Description: Terrestrial herb.
Leaf linear to lanceolate, to 20 cm, terete and deeply channelled.
Inflorescence to 40 cm high, 1–4-flowered; peduncle wiry, flexuous. Perianth segments to 9 mm long and 5 mm wide, red to pinkish cream, sepals narrowing into long, curving points. Column to 5 mm long, pink to cream. Midlobe short, thickened, narrowing at apex, shallowly notched and often densely papillose and toothed, yellow. Lateral arms short, flat, acute-ovate, margins densely but irregularly fringed with long, slender, warty teeth. Anther protrusive with a minutely roughened apex.
Flowering: September–December
Distribution and occurrence: Grows in sclerophyll forest and heat where it may form discrete clumps or solitary plants in damp, peaty soils through well drained, sandy loams; rare, chiefly in the Yass and Eden areas.
NSW subdivisions: CT
Has been recorded as hybridizing with T. nuda and T. ixioidesin other States.
Text by P. Bernhardt
Taxon concept: Flora of NSW 4 (1993)
APNI* Provides a link to the Australian Plant Name Index (hosted by the Australian National Botanic Gardens) for comprehensive bibliographic data
***The AVH map option provides a detailed interactive Australia wide distribution map drawn from collections held by all major Australian herbaria participating in the Australian Virtual Herbarium project.
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