As summarised in the NZ Native Orchid Journal, No. 145, August 2017, there have been recent formal descriptions of new orchid species recognised as native to New Zealand, including:

Corybas confusus Lehnebach (was tagged C. "roundleaf")
Corybas dienemus D.L.Jones (similar or may be the same as C. "rest area")
Corybas obscurus Lehnebach (was tagged C. "darkie")
Corybas sanctigeorgianus Lehnebach (was tagged C. "trisept")
Corybas vitreus Lehnebach (was tagged C. “eastern hills”)
Corybas walliae Lehnebach (was tagged C. “triwhite”)
Gastrodia cooperae Lehnebach & J.R.Rolfe (was tagged G. “long column black”)
Gastrodia molloyi Lehnebach & J.R.Rolfe (was tagged Gastrodia “long column")

Following the release of the new app to identify native orchids, Murray Dawson was interviewed on RNZ. The link is http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/201783381/app-for-identifying-endangered-native-orchids

A smartphone and tablet version of the interactive identification key to native orchids has been created.

This is now available for Android at https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.lucidcentral.mobile.nz_orchid and will soon be on the iTunes Store for iOS at https://itunes.apple.com/us/developer/lucidmobile/id898685479.

This free app covers many plant characters for identifying native orchids, including leaves, flowers, habitats, and distribution. It is a complete install so it can be used in the field without Internet access.

The online PC/Mac version has also been updated at www.landcareresearch.co.nz/resources/identification/plants/native-orchid-key.

Key authors: Murray Dawson, Jeremy Rolfe, Kathleen Stewart, Jenny Dent, and Michael Pratt.

We thank members of the New Zealand Native Orchid Group (http://www.nativeorchids.co.nz) and the NatureWatch NZ project (https://inaturalist.nz/projects/new-zealand-native-orchids) for contributing images to this key.

The New Zealand TFBIS (Terrestrial & Freshwater Biodiversity Information System) Programme funded creation of this app.

Today (6 June 2015) we achieved more than 1000 observations of our native orchids, from 100 contributors, for (nearly) 100 species of native orchids. Thanks to all for contributing to this milestone! Also, coming soon will be a free smartphone app that I am developing at Landcare Research for identifying this special group of native plants.

On 10 October 2014 I uploaded another version of the native orchid key (http://www.landcareresearch.co.nz/resources/identification/plants/native-orchid-key).

This version updates the 'Java digital signature' which allows the key to run and incorporates several images posted on this native orchid project. Many thanks to all those who kindly gave me permission - you are acknowledged in the image captions within the key itself and at http://www.landcareresearch.co.nz/resources/identification/plants/native-orchid-key/acknowledgements. This is a great example of collaborative 'crowd-sourcing' to improve this free resource.

In July 2014, Murray Dawson provided another update to the interactive identification key to native orchids at www.landcareresearch.co.nz/resources/identification/plants/native-orchid-key.

This version has extensive additional character scoring, particularly of fruiting material, from Allan Herbarium (CHR) and Auckland War Memorial Museum (AK) herbarium specimens. Many thanks to Kath Stewart and Jenny Dent for helping Murray with this.

Also fixed in this version of the orchid key are broken links to orchid profiles as a result of changes to the New Zealand Plant Conservation Network website.

An app (smartphone) version of the orchid key will become available in the future - watch this space!