CACrown ArchivesThe cinema collection
Menu
Research dossier · Science & Nature

Thelymitra pulchella

species of plant

Specimen drawers, botanical folios and brass scientific instruments under study light
Science and natureInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionAug 15, 2026
Entity authorityQ15468332 ↗
Source-derived summary

Thelymitra pulchella, commonly called striped sun orchid, is a species of orchid in the family Orchidaceae that is endemic to New Zealand. It has a single erect, fleshy, channelled leaf and up to fourteen blue flowers with darker stripes on the petal and sometimes also on the sepals. The column and its lobes are variable in shape and colour.

Description

Thelymitra pulchella is a tuberous, perennial herb with a single erect, fleshy, channelled leaf 80–240 mm (3–9 in) long and 6–20 mm (0.2–0.8 in) wide. Up to fourteen blue, sometimes pink or white flowers 10–18 mm (0.4–0.7 in) wide are borne on a flowering stem sometimes up to 800 mm (30 in) tall. The petals, and sometimes also the sepals have dark blue stripes. The column is dark blue, pink, mauve or white and 6–8 mm (0.2–0.3 in) long. The arms on the sides of the column are reddish brown and sometimes have red or yellow teeth. The lobe on top of the anther is variable in colour and shape but often has irregular teeth. Flowering occurs from October to January.

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Thelymitra pulchella” is species of plant. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Thelymitra, pulchella and species, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewA sound reference starting point where classification, measurement and the date of the underlying evidence remain visible. The current 181-word lead offers orientation but no explicit four-digit date, so chronology should not be assumed. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. For this dossier, Thelymitra, pulchella and species is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “species of plant” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

Datasets, specimens, observations and peer-reviewed methods provide the appropriate test for the technical claims summarized here. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 15, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q15468332. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.

Critical limits

A general summary may omit uncertainty, sample limits or methodological disagreement that is explicit in the technical record. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Check terminology, classification and the date of the cited evidence. Scientific names and technical consensus can change while older records retain historical value.

Best used for
  • Current terminology
  • Classification context
  • Finding cited technical literature
Verify next

Primary datasets, specimen catalogues, standards bodies and the most recent peer-reviewed literature.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Thelymitra pulchella”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Thelymitra pulchella primary sources, Thelymitra pulchella archive and Thelymitra research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Thelymitra pulchella”?
  2. Is the terminology current, historical or disputed?
  3. Which observation, specimen, dataset or publication supports the account?
Subject index

Search terms from this dossier

Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Thelymitra pulchella” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.