Three new species of Thelymitra (Diurideae, Orchidaceae) endemic to Aotearoa New Zealand.
- 1Macquarie University
Abstract
Three new species of sun orchid (Thelymitra) endemic to Aotearoa New Zealand are here described. These are T. palustris, T. scabrifolia and T. semaphora. The morphological distinctiveness of these three species has been acknowledged for decades; however, their taxonomic status has remained unresolved. Evidence from existing karyological data, recently generated DNA sequence data (LFY and ycf1) and morphological studies from historical and fresh collections are used here to support their formal description. Both, T. palustris and T. semaphora are restricted to wet habitats north of Auckland (North Island). Thelymitra scabrifolia inhabits mostly scrub, and it has a similar northern North Island distribution, but is has been found also in Manawat[a]whi / Three Kings Islands and historically in Otago (South Island). All three species are polyploids and are of conservation concern.
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BibTeX
@misc{jones2026three,
title = {{Three new species of Thelymitra (Diurideae, Orchidaceae) endemic to Aotearoa New Zealand.}},
author = {H. R. Jones and J. A. Tate and C. A. Lehnebach},
howpublished = {bioRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = aug,
doi = {10.64898/2026.08.27.745643},
url = {https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.08.27.745643v1},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Three new species of Thelymitra (Diurideae, Orchidaceae) endemic to Aotearoa New Zealand.
AU - H. R. Jones
AU - J. A. Tate
AU - C. A. Lehnebach
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/08/27
PB - bioRxiv
DO - 10.64898/2026.08.27.745643
UR - https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.08.27.745643v1
AB - Three new species of sun orchid (Thelymitra) endemic to Aotearoa New Zealand are here described. These are T. palustris, T. scabrifolia and T. semaphora. The morphological distinctiveness of these three species has been acknowledged for decades; however, their taxonomic status has remained unresolved. Evidence from existing karyological data, recently generated DNA sequence data (LFY and ycf1) and morphological studies from historical and fresh collections are used here to support their formal description. Both, T. palustris and T. semaphora are restricted to wet habitats north of Auckland (North Island). Thelymitra scabrifolia inhabits mostly scrub, and it has a similar northern North Island distribution, but is has been found also in Manawat[a]whi / Three Kings Islands and historically in Otago (South Island). All three species are polyploids and are of conservation concern.
ER -