Thelymitra spadicea, commonly called the browntop sun orchid, is a species of orchid that is endemic to Tasmania. It has a single erect, fleshy leaf and up to four relatively small blue flowers with small darker spots and an elongated lobe on top of the anther.
Thelymitra spadicea is a tuberous, perennial herb with a single erect, fleshy, channelled, linear leaf NaNsigfig=1NaNsigfig=1 long and NaNsigfig=1NaNsigfig=1 wide with a reddish base. Up to four blue flowers with small darker spots, NaNsigfig=1NaNsigfig=1 wide are arranged on a flowering stem NaNsigfig=1NaNsigfig=1 tall. The sepals and petals are NaNsigfig=1NaNsigfig=1 long and NaNsigfig=2NaNsigfig=2 wide. The column is bluish white, about 4sigfig=1NaNsigfig=1 long and 2sigfig=1NaNsigfig=1 wide. The lobe on the top of the anther is brown with a blue band, a yellow elongated tip and small teeth. The side lobes have dense, mop-like tufts of white hairs. Flowering occurs in November and December.[1] [2]
Thelymitra spadicea was first formally described in 1999 by David Jones from a specimen collected near Stanley and the description was published in Australian Orchid Research.[3] The specific epithet (spadicea) is a Latin word meaning “of a light brown colour",[4] referring to the colour of the anther lobe.
The browntop sun orchid grows in coastal and near coastal heath in northern and western Tasmania.