Brownleea coerulea pink-mauve inflorescence

The inflorescence of Brownleea coerulea becomes up to 35 cm long. It may bear from three to thirty flowers. The dorsal sepal forms a hood at the top of the flower with the two lateral petals huddling on its sides.

The flower colour varies from pale blue to pinkish mauve with violet spots upon the hood. The lip of the resupinate flower is small, only about 1 mm long. It is positioned erectly in front of the column and shorter than the anther.

The unspotted lateral sepals are obliquely ovate with pointed tips attenuating abruptly. They are positioned in three different stances on the spike in picture: The flower at the top still has them semi-closed in front of the hood in a shy, bud-like posture. In the second flower they are down, but still tied at their tips, forming a (split) bowl-shape; in the third flower they are fully separated and spreading.

The eight members of the Brownleea genus produce nectar. Pollination of this species is performed by long-proboscid flies.

Flowering happens from end summer to mid-autumn (Liltved and Johnson, 2012; Gledhill, 1981; Pooley, 1984; www.pacificbulbsociety.org).