Plant: to 70 cm tall.

Flowers: 1-5, blue, dark-spotted flowers. Column bluish, dark purple towards top, crowned with finger-like calli, the tallest yellow or orange, others dark purple or red; side lobes fleshy, the jagged margins often yellow or reddish. Column arms with thin tufts of brushlike white or mauve cilia.

Flowering: October to November.

Habitat: well lit scrub or forest tracks, roadsides, can extend to montane zones. South to Hokitika.

Conservation: scattered, never common; not threatened.

Notes: T. nervosa is the only other N.Z. species with spotted petals.

Key features: spotted petals, column top open ragged, tipped red or yellow.