Plant: leaf long narrow, keeled, somewhat erect and down curved.

Flowers: blue to light or dark mauve to magenta. Column pale blue with a blackish purple saddle behind the arched, deeply cleft, yellow-edged top, tip tapered and strongly incurved. Column arms with short, erect tufts of white or pale mauve cilia.

Habitat: lowland to montane, clay banks, forest or open scrub. Widespread, common.

Conservation: widespread, common, not threatened.

Notes: in NZ there are several distinct forms, including T. “orange top”, T. "Ahipara", T. "darkie", T. "rough leaf" T. "sky".

Key features: Column top distinctly notched, black with a strong yellow tip; leaves short, narrow, arching.