Glossodia major

Glossodia major Wax-lip Orchid, Brisbane Ranges 4 October 2017

At this time of the year the Wax-lip Orchids are ubiquitous, seemingly flowering everywhere in the bush. I found this little group in the Brisbane Ranges today but they were scattered throughout the understory. After the first few minutes of delight I tend to ignore them because I'm looking for other plants or insects. I hardly ever photograph them but this is one I took several weeks ago.

Wax-lip Orchid, Brisbane Ranges 17 September 2017

But this one stopped me in my tracks. The white form is rarely seen.

Wax-lip, Brisbane Ranges 4 October 2017

Some Otway orchids

We walked about 200 metres along a track in the forest north of Anglesea on Victoria's south coast but it took a while because we found a few orchids flowering, about ten species in all. Am I repeating myself when I say this area is a marvellous floristic treasure?

Eastern Bronze Caladenia Caladenia transitoria

Large Duck Orchid Caleana major

Plain Fingers Caladenia sp. aff. vulgaris

Spotted Sun Orchid Thelymitra ixioides

Slender Sun Orchid Thelymitra pauciflora

Salmon Sun Orchid Thelymitra rubra

We also saw two species of bearded greenhoods, Pink Fingers and the small duck orchid Caleana minor as well as leaves of several other species. A friend was along the same track a month ago and saw an entirely different suite of orchids and other plants flowering.

Harvey Street

It was a beautiful morning and I was in Anglesea with some spare time. Perfect. The woodland off Harvey Street seemed like a good option and it proved to be a good choice.

The austrostipas, poas and austrodanthonias were flowering and waving in the slight breeze and as always look spectacular when backlit. There were a few plants flowering (pimeleas, peas, lomandras, an orchid or two, fringe-lilies, daisies and even a few violets), there were a few insects on the shrubs (dragonflies, damselflies, wasps, flies, ants, bees, moths and butterflies), there were one or two birds calling (but as it was midday I wasn't expecting too many) and I had the bush track all to myself. It was a delightful hour.

Thysanotus tuberosus subsp. tuberosus, Common Fringe Lily

Caladenia tentaculata Mantis Orchid

Spider

Day-flying moth. Family Crambidae, Corynophora lativittalis. Thanks MH.

Male Common Brown Heteronympha merope

Varied Sedge-skipper Hesperilla donnysa.

Metallic Jewel (Shield) Bug Scutiphora pedicellata

PS I'll update the IDs when I've done some homework. Any ideas?

Update: All sorted now. Thanks CT for help on the bug, MH for the moth and VWD and DM for the sedge-skipper butterfly.

Spring in the Common

The reserve at Inverleigh, known as the Common, has been very dry for the last decade or more. But we've had something like average rainfall this year and the plants in the Common have responded. On a short visit this week we found a lot of orchids, dozens of a few species in a small area. And that's just the orchids. It was looking spectacular.

Hornet orchid Diuris sulphurea

Thelymitra sp. Sun-orchid. Possibly T. peniculata



Spotted Sun-orchid Thelymitra ixioides

Thelymitra sp. Sun-orchid. Possibly T. malvina

Above and below: Thelymitra rubra Salmon Sun-orchid

Helmet, bird, dwarf and trim - orchids of course.

Trevor emailed me a photo of a helmet orchid that he found near the Elliot Traps he'd set in the Inverleigh Flora and Fauna Reserve. "Meet me there at 8.30 in the morning?" he asked. So of course I went, along with several other friends. Sadly Trevor didn't trap any mammals in four days of trapping but we found four, maybe five, orchid species this morning.

Corybas diemenicus Veined Helmet Orchid

Pterostylis concinna Trim Greenhood

Pterostylis nana Dwarf Greenhood

Chiloglottis trapeziformis Dainty Wasp Orchid (or, Broad-lip Bird Orchid)

and, a mystery Corybas sp.

Update: The above is almost certainly a bud of Corybas incurvus Slaty Helmet Orchid. [Thanks Helen and Neil]