Naked Sun Orchid

Did you know

• Unlike most orchids whose flowers are bilaterally symmetrical, sun orchids have open, nearly radially symmetrical flowers resembling non-orchid wildflowers — earning them the nickname 'the honest orchids.'
• Sun orchids only open their flowers when temperatures exceed about 20°C (68°F) in full direct sunlight — on cool or cloudy days the flowers remain tightly closed.
• The blue-flowered forms are among the only genuinely blue orchids in the world; the pigment is an unusual combination of flavonoid compounds that produce a true blue rather than the violet-blue seen in most 'blue' flowers.
• Genus name Thelymitra comes from the Greek 'thelys' (female) and 'mitra' (cap or turban), referring to the distinctive hood of the column that resembles a cap placed on the female part of the flower.
• Many sun orchid species are self-pollinating as a backup strategy when suitable pollinator bees are absent — the column hood literally deposits pollen on the stigma within the closed bud.

Color meanings

Uses

• ornamental
• conservation indicator