| Stat' | Notes | Thumbnails: 145. 28 native species (2 introduced) listed, with 2 natives (0 introduced) from Ellura |
| Plants (Plantae) - Land Plants (Charophyta) - Land Plants (Equisetopsida) - Asparagus (Asparagales) | |||
| The families under this order surprise us. We think of Asparagus as a soft spreading ground cover; probably because of the garden plant Asparagus-fern. However, all the Grass-trees, Irongrasses, Lilies & Orchids exist under this order. Generally quite stiff, spikey, tufted plants. Yet Sedges & Triodia are under Grasses (Poales). | |||
| Plants (Plantae) - Land Plants (Charophyta) - Land Plants (Equisetopsida) - Asparagus (Asparagales) - Orchid (Orchidaceae); 30 species, 2 from Ellura | Plains Spider Orchid Caladenia campestris iNaturalist | Na f | Thank you June Niejalke (JuneN) & Frank Whitlock for confirming and Robert Lawrence for helping with the id of this species for us We found a patch of 6 plants. There is a VERY similar orchid, in overlapping areas, called C. viriosa. To differentiate them June said "C viriosa usually grows in a gully, slopes of hills or moister areas but C campestris is a plains orchid thus called the Plains Orchid. The height of the plant is the most useful, a plant that grows up to 50cm can be short but a plant that grows up to 20cms does not grow to 50cm, so is more reliable for ID. So, it is best to look for the tallest plants in the area. Even in a poor season C. viriosa is still quite tall. If they don't get enough moisture they don't flower." Imaged 6Fl in Sep | |||
| Flinders Ranges Fingers Caladenia coactilis iNaturalist | P-R f | Thank you June Niejalke (JuneN) for identifying this species for us About 50-100mm tall. When comparing to Pink Lady Fingers (Caladenia carnea) June said "They are very similar but, C coactilis is restricted to the Flinders Ranges and occurs in exposed sites of the ranges, is thick textured, can be variable in color, but usually a bright pink, has a white ring around the base of the sepals and petals. The leaf is thick textured and glabrous." Imaged 2(1B,2Fl) in Sep | ||||
| Small Bayonet Spider Orchid Caladenia gladiolata iNaturalist | P-E f | Thank you Robert Lawrence for confirming the id of this species for us Imaged 8Fl in Sep | ||||
| Pink Fairies Caladenia latifolia iNaturalist | RA m f | Thank you Robert Lawrence for confirming the id of this species for us Imaged 3Fl in Sep | ||||
| Star Spider Orchid Caladenia saxatilis iNaturalist | Na f | Thank you Robert Lawrence for confirming the id of this species for us Imaged 1Fl in Sep | ||||
| King Spider Orchid Caladenia 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 3Fl in Oct | ||||
| Purple Helmet Orchid Corysanthes incurva iNaturalist | Na a |
Thank you Robert Lawrence, (ZaneDJ) & Tom Hunt (Moth_Nut) for confirming the id of this species for us 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). Imaged 7(2B,1Fl) in Jul(1B), Aug(1Fl), Sep(3:1B) & 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 iNaturalist | RA m a |
Thank you (ZaneDJ) for confirming the id of this species for us Imaged 14(3B,12Fl) in Sep(1B) & Oct(13:2B,12Fl) | ||||
| Bullard Donkey-orchid Diuris orientis x pardina iNaturalist | Ih a | Thank you Robert Lawrence for confirming the id of this species for us We call these Bullard Donkey-orchid. A "Bull"dogs & Leop"ard" cross/hybrid. We've marked it as a man made hybrid as they only hybridised due to clearance of land. Before western settlement, they didn't exist. However, the actual hybridisation occurred naturally; once they were in pollenation vacinity due to the land clearing. The last photo shows a comparison between Leopard, Bullard & Bulldog orchids. All photographed within about 20m or so. Imaged 10(6B,4Fl) in Sep(5B) & Oct(5:1B,4Fl) | ||||
| Little Donkey-orchid Diuris palustris iNaturalist | EN m f |
Thank you Robert Lawrence for confirming the id of this species for us Imaged 1Fl in Sep | ||||
| Spotted Donkey-orchid Diuris pardina iNaturalist | LC m a |
Thank you Frank Whitlock for confirming the id of this species for us Imaged 13(5B,10Fl) in Sep(9:5B,6Fl) & Oct(4Fl) | ||||
| Mallee Midge Orchid Genoplesium nigricans iNaturalist | NT e m |
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 5Fl in Oct | ||||
| Sweet Onion-orchid Microtis cf rara | P-R a | This is a tentative id
Imaged 5 in Nov(2) & Dec(3) | ||||
| Woodland Onion-orchid Microtis frutetorum iNaturalist | RA m c | Thank you Alan Dandie
(Alan_Dandie) for identifying this species for us Imaged 1 in Oct | ||||
| Blue Fairy Orchid Pheladenia deformis iNaturalist | LC m f | Thank you (Distinguished_Orca) & (AldingaRoo) for confirming the id of this species for us Imaged 6Fl in Sep | ||||
| 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(5J,3B,3Fl) in May(1J), Jun(1J), Aug(2J), Sep(1B) & Oct(5:1J,2B,3Fl) | ||||
| Bearded Greenhood Pterostylis foliacea iNaturalist | Na f | Thank you Robert Lawrence for identifying this species for us This looks almost exactly the same as Pterostylis plumosa, but was taken in a different region. Locally Pterostylis plumosa is classed as Endangered. Imaged 5Fl in Sep | ||||
| 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 27(14J,6B,12Fl,1Fr) in Jun(4J), Jul(8:7J,1B), Aug(12:3J,5B,9Fl) & Sep(3:3Fl,1Fr) | ||||
| Dwarf Greenhood Pterostylis nana iNaturalist | LC m f | Thank you Robert Lawrence for confirming the id of this species for us Imaged 2Fl in Sep | ||||
| 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 (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(7B,10Fl) in Oct(9:7B,9Fl) & Nov(1Fl) | ||||
| Lemon Sun-orchid Thelymitra antennifera iNaturalist | NT m c |
Thank you Karen Weaving & Jill Dark for confirming the id of this species for us Imaged 30(26B,30Fl) in Oct | ||||
| 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(5B,7Fl) in Oct(3:3B,3Fl) & Nov(4:2B,4Fl) | ||||
| Great Sun-orchid Thelymitra grandiflora iNaturalist | P-R f | Thank you Robert Mitchell for identifying and Robert Lawrence for confirming the id of this species for us We originally thought this was Scented Sun-orchid (Thelymitra megcalyptra), but Robert Mitchel kindly notified us it was different. To differentiate from T. megcalyptra, Robert Lawrence noted "The ragged top of the column is distinctive. That particular blue with a lighter centre is very common, but there are other colours as well.". Robert Mitchel then sent us to the latest paper describing the species "Resolution of the Thelymitra aristata (Orchidaceae) complex of south-eastern Australia; Jeffrey A. Jeanes". The key steps from the description are: 1: Auxiliary lobes absent -> 2 2: Anther inserted at base of column at anthesis, mostly obscured behind the stigma -> 5 5: Perianth segments >20 mm long for at least somes flowers in larger individuals; flowers opening freely; plants often very robust, to 100 cm tall; habitat low to moderately high altitude heathlands and heathy woodlands; south-eastern Australia -> 6 6: Post-anther lobe of column thickened at the base, lateral margins often strongly recurved; South Australia -> T. grandiflora Imaged 1(1B,1Fl) in Sep | ||||
| Scented Sun-orchid Thelymitra megcalyptra iNaturalist | NT m f | Thank you Frank Whitlock for confirming the id of this species for us Imaged 1(1B,1Fl) in Sep | ||||
| 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(4B,5Fl) in Oct(5:3B,5Fl) & Nov(1B) | ||||
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