Botanical name

Holothrix villosa var. villosa

Family

Orchidaceae

Common Name

Thread Orchid

Description

Slender, erect, tuberous geophyte up to 35cm. Leaves two, pressed flat on the ground, up to 95mm across, scattered long hairs on the upper surface; inflorescence lax, up to 40 (-100) flowers, more or less on one side of the stem, cream to yellowish-green; stem without bracts, densely to sparsely hairy with the long hairs at right angles to the stem.

More common than Holothrix villosa var. condensata.

Distinguishable from Holothrix cernua by the horizontal hairs on flowering stem.

Aromatic evening scent in some plants, suggest pollination by small noctuid moths (usually brown or grey night-flying moths of the family Noctuidae); these moths have a thick furry body and a long proboscis.

Habitat

Rock crevices and on hillsides, from near sea level to 2,000m

Flower Date

October to January