Page:Manual of the New Zealand Flora.djvu/712

672

8. T. uniflora, Hook. f. Fl. Antarct. i. 70.—Stem slender, 6–12 in. high or more. Leaf much shorter than the stem, very narrow-linear, channelled. Flowers 1–4, large, handsome, blue-purple, ¾ in. diam. Sepals and petals obovate-oblong, obtuse or apiculate, veined; lip broader, obovate. Column short and stout, less than half the length of the perianth; wing reduced to 2 linear-triangular lateral lobes not connected by a rim or crest behind the anther, tip obscurely notched, usually twisted inwards. Anther large, broadly ovate, the connective produced into a bifid beak which overtops the column-lobes.—Fl. Nov. Zel. i. 244; ''Handb. N.Z. Fl.'' 271.

Glabrous terrestrial herbs. Root of 1 or 2 ovoid tubers and numerous fleshy fibres. Leaves few, near the base of the stem,, narrow-linear. Flowers rather large, sessile in a lax spike; bracts sheathing, acute. Upper sepal erect, incurved, deeply concave; lateral longer, narrow-linear or almost filiform, terete, erect. Petals short, erect, narrow, flat. Lip affixed to the base of the column, spreading, 3-lobed; lateral lobes broad; middle lobe large, ovate; disc with a thick callus. Column short, stout, upper part with 2 lateral erect lobes equalling the anther. Anther large, erect or slightly incurved, 2-celled; polHnia powdery.

1. O. strictum, R. Br. Prodr. 317.—Stem stout or slender, rigid, erecc, wiry, 9–24 in. high. Leaves several near the base of the stem, sheathing. 2–9 in. long, linear or almost filiform, channelled, margins involute; above the leaves there are usually 2 or 3 long sheaths with short erect laminae. Spike 1–9 in. long, 3–12-flowered; flowers rather lax, green, greenish-purple or brownishpurple; bracts acuminate, the lower ones usually exceeding the