By Lachlan Turner
In a bushland environment where you see all shades of green and brown it can be quite surprising to sight small blue flowers close to the ground, standing out in the understorey. Very often this blue colour belongs to the Dotted Sun Orchid (Thelmytra ixiodes), or one of its relatives.
This terrestrial orchid, growing up to 500 mm tall, has a solitary leaf which wraps itself around the stem. The flowers may number up to ten and can range from a pale blue to almost a blueish mauve in colour.
Several of the individual flowers may present with a number of darker blue dots on the upper three petals – hence its name. These flowers consist of 6 petals and are from 30 mm to 50 mm across.
Flowering generally occurs between August and October. The plant prefers to grow in open forest as well as heath, preferring damp sandy soils. When growing conditions are more favourable and the orchid is in a sunnier situation, the depth of colour in the flowers can be quite brilliant, particularly in the middle of the day.
With all terrestrial plants there are several related but less common varieties. The dots on the petals of the Dotted Sun Orchid, distinguish this plant from its close relatives. There is a smaller pinkish variety as well as a taller blue variety with veined petals.
A similar characteristic of each variety is the distinctive formation in the centre of the flower as seen in the adjacent images.
