Thelymitra silena
Thelymitra silena, commonly called madonna sun orchid, is a species of orchid that is endemic to Tasmania. It has a single thick, fleshy, channelled leaf and up to fifteen pale blue flowers with an almost spherical yellow lobe on top of the anther.
Description
Thelymitra silena is a tuberous, perennial herb with a single thick, fleshy, channelled, linear to lance-shaped leaf long and wide with a purplish base. Between five and fifteen pale blue flowers wide are arranged on a flowering stem tall. The sepals and petals are long and wide. The column is white to cream-coloured, long and about wide. The lobe on the top of the anther is light brown and gently curved with a yellow, almost spherical tip but with a deep notch. The side lobes are curved with sparse toothbrush-like tufts of white hairs. Flowering occurs in October and November.Taxonomy and naming
Thelymitra silena was first formally described in 1999 by David Jones from a specimen collected on Clarke Island and the description was published in The Orchadian. The specific epithet is derived from the Latin word meaning "a bearded, bald, woodland deity, similar to but olderthan a satyr", referring to the column of this orchid.