Stat' | Notes | Thumbnails: 97. 17 native species (1 introduced) listed, with 2 natives (0 introduced) from Ellura |
Plants (Plantae) - Land Plants (Charophyta) - Land Plants (Equisetopsida) - Asparagus (Asparagales) - Orchid (Orchidaceae) | ||||||||
King Spider Orchid Arachnorchis tentaculata iNaturalist | RA d a c |
Thank you Reiner Richter & Geoffrey Cox for confirming the id of this species for us We were quite amazed this, one and only flower we've ever had, lasted for over a month. So a number of shots shown here as it's ages. On the 1st day it took quite a while to unravel, but by the 2nd day you can see the lower petals have crossed and the top petal hanging overhead in an arc; almost like a ballarina. A large native orchid standing at ~300mm high, with the labelum being ~10mm wide and the petals approximately 40mm long. Imaged 3 in Oct | ||||||
Purple Helmet Orchid Corysanthes incurva | Na a |
Unfortunately we just missed out on seeing this one flower. They often don't flower at all, building up strength with just one leaf over the years until the time is right. This was the 1st we knew we even had this species at our home in the Adelaide Hills. The largest leaf was ~40mm wide. Woo Hoo, we got the flower this year (2018) images coming soon! Imaged 10(3B,4Fl) in Jul(2B), Aug(3Fl), Sep(3:1B,1Fl) & Oct(2) | ||||||
African Orchid Disa bracteata | If a |
A very invasive weed that's difficult to eradicate. Partly because they ALWAYS have two tubers. The first one comes up with the plant fairly easily, the second not so much. The second bulb will continue the plants life if not removed. Once the flower head has seeded it's very difficult to extract the plant without spreading seed further. The only way we know is to very genlty tilt the plant into a plastic bag (without any sudden movement) to catch anything that falls off and then dig it up. It's quite possible that cut & spray will work, but we haven't tried that. Imaged 20 in Jan(1), Mar(1), Aug(1), Sep(2), Oct(3), Nov(9) & Dec(3) | ||||||
Wallflower Donkey-orchid Diuris orientis | RA m a |
Imaged 9(2Fl) in Sep(1) & Oct(8:2Fl) | ||||||
Spotted Donkey-orchid Diuris pardina | LC m a |
Imaged 13(5B,2Fl) in Sep(9:5B,2Fl) & Oct(4) | ||||||
Mallee Midge Orchid Genoplesium nigricans iNaturalist | NT e m |
Similar Species: Onion-orchid (Microtis cf uniflora) Thank you Tony and Jenny Dominelli for confirming the id of this species for us We were very excited to find this little single stemmed plant under mallee trees, amounst the leaf/bark litter. The whole plant is only 160mm tall, with the fruit cluster only 15mm high. We missed this flowering last year, but now we just caught it in April ... last flower remaining. In our area the only other midge orchid it could be is Red Midge-orchid (Genoplesium rufum). In relation to the "sheath" photo, Robert Lawrence said "This genus only has one leaf and that is tightly wrapped around the scape. What you have in this picture is the sheath that protects the new shoot until it emerges from the ground." Imaged 3(1Fl) in Apr(1Fl), Jun(1) & Jul(1) | ||||||
Purple Cockatoo Glossodia major iNaturalist | RA m a c |
Thank you Reiner Richter for confirming the id of this species for us A stunning orchid and quite large for a native at 40mm wide (petal tip to petal tip) Imaged 5(4Fl) in Oct | ||||||
Sweet Onion-orchid Microtis cf rara | P-R a | This is a tentative id
Imaged 5 in Nov(2) & Dec(3) | ||||||
Onion-orchid Microtis cf uniflora | Na a | Similar Species: Mallee Midge Orchid (Genoplesium nigricans) This is a tentative id Imaged 1 in Nov | ||||||
Woodland Onion-orchid Microtis frutetorum iNaturalist | RA m c | Thank you Alan Dandie
for identifying this species for us Imaged 1 in Oct | ||||||
Two-bristle Greenhood Orchid Pterostylis biseta | RA m |
These are fascinating flowers. The two bristles are sensitive to motion. John Smyth tells us this is called an "irritable labellum". An insect will land on the labelum, attracted to the flower by scent. This will trigger the bristles to close the labellum, trapping the insect inside the flower tube. It's only way out is to follow the tube and escape. In the process is brushed against the pollen, thereby fertilising this flower, or taking it's pollen to another Imaged 10 in May(1), Jun(1), Aug(2), Sep(1) & Oct(5) | ||||||
Midget Greenhood Orchid Pterostylis mutica | LC e m |
The rosette is more typical of greenhoods, than the swan, being very flat and small. The rear of the labellum (the appendage) is relatively flat. Noting the rosette in early life (August) and marking the plants to monitor them, as we did, is the best way to identify them. This year we found a large number of specimens whose rosettes varied dramatically. We thought we had several species, but all turned out to be just the one. Imaged 25 in Jun(4), Jul(7), Aug(11) & Sep(3) | ||||||
Nodding Greenhood Pterostylis nutans | Na a |
Imaged 15(1B,4Fl) in May(1), Jun(1B), Aug(6:2Fl), Sep(2) & Oct(5:2Fl) | ||||||
Maroon-hood Orchid Pterostylis pedunculata | RA d a |
Imaged 17(4B,7Fl) in Aug(7:4B,3Fl), Sep(5:4Fl) & Oct(5) | ||||||
Black Fire-orchid Pyrorchis nigricans iNaturalist | RA m c |
Thank you Alan Dandie for confirming the id of this species for us Imaged 2 in Oct | ||||||
Small White Sun-orchid Thelymitra albiflora iNaturalist | RA d a |
Thank you Adam Dutkiewicz & Robert Mitchell for identifying and Robert Lawrence & Rusty Ryder for confirming the id of this species for us The first flower was originally id'ed as T. nuda. When this happened we questioned Robert Lawrence about the 2nd flower, being a different coloured hood, and he said "It is certainly not typical. It could be leucistic." Imaged 10(1B,2Fl) in Oct(9:1B,2Fl) & Nov(1) | ||||||
Plum Sun-orchid Thelymitra cf inflata | P-V a | Thank you Robert Lawrence for identifying this species for us This is a tentative id, and Robert suggests T. inflata looks similar to T. holmesii, but the habitat is more suited to T. inflata Imaged 7 in Oct(3) & Nov(4) | ||||||
Salmon Sun-orchid Thelymitra rubra iNaturalist | NT d a |
Thank you Judy and Rob Peters for confirming the id of this species for us Imaged 6 in Oct(5) & Nov(1) |
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