Eulophia tenella flower

The small flowers of Eulophia tenella have partly spreading sepals, 9 mm long and coloured dark green to brownish purple. The petals are pale yellow on the outside, brownish purple within, their shape rotund to elliptic-ovate.

The three-lobed lip has a large almost rectangular midlobe, brown to dull reddish in colour, but bright yellow on a small strip of its central crest. This midlobe surface is uneven from crest ridges, thin fleshy protuberances and erratically shaped undulations. Its margin is also raggedly uneven.

The thick, cylindrical spur below the lip is up to 3 mm long, dark coloured and pointing backwards. The stout column is cream-coloured, angled forward in the flower centre. Self-pollination may occur in at least some parts of this plant’s distribution (Liltved and Johnson, 2012; Pooley, 1998).