Reader Keira McKenzie sends us a bouquet of lovely flowers: all native orchids from western Australia. Her notes and IDs (some tentative) are indented:
Wispy spider orchid: filimentosa complex (I think):
Donkey orchid: winter donkey orchid – Diuris brumalis (I think – there are such small points of difference):
Purple enamel orchid: Elythranthera brunonis (very sure on this one):
Swamp spider orchid: Huegelli complex (I think):
Scented sun orchid: actually, seems to be a grantie sun orchid which is weird considering where I was. But it certainly looks like it. Thelymitra petrophila, but it also might be ‘shy sun orchid: Thelymitra graminea.
As you can see, the spider orchids do look the same in form – it’s the colours that make the difference.
Keira also added a picture of her beloved black Plushie: a flower among cats:
Thank you for the gorgeous photos of Australian terrestrial orchids. I live in Adelaide and love orchid-spotting in the spring. We have spider, donkey and sun orchids, but I have never seen the wonderful enamel orchid. Your species are different from those that I’m familiar with, so it’s great to expand my familiarity with these lovely plants.
And please give Plushie a scratch under the chin from me.
If that is not evolution by natural selection then what? Nice cat too.
Very lovely. I was curious about the dimming effects near the periphery of the pictures. Was that done with the camera, or was it done in post-processing?
“Plushy” is a very appropriate name for that beast. Thanks for the pics.
Gorgeous pics! Absolutely stunning.
I love orchids, I sure wish we had native species here in Washington state.
The quality of the photos is also superb.
Gorgeous photos!
Gorgeous orchid (and cat) photos. I shall send the page’s link to Dad, a long-standing orchid-o-phile. Until he discovered the joys of sedges.