9/6/2018

After another wonderful fully cooked breakfast, eaten for lunch this time, at the Esperance Bird & Animal Park, we head off to Helms Arboretum (Mud Map SE 35) to see if anything other than bunny orchids has shown up.

Well we are pleased to find some Banded greenhoods (Pterostylis vittata) flowering. These little beauties flower April to September in locations from Perth to Balladonia.

Single headed flower

Insect like labellum

Crowded flower heads

As we only have the afternoon to explore we jump back in the Triton and head north up the Coolgardie-Norseman Hwy to Fleming Grove Road where we take a left turn east to check out a previously successful location. We find evidence of bunny orchids and hare orchid leaves before stumbling across some more banded greenhoods sheltering under a bush. After a good 30mins or so we make tracks to the railway tracks for another explore. No luck here so onwards we go, further east, before turning south. 

2 flowers hidden under bush

Solitary flower

3 stages of development

We proved unsuccessful in finding any further orchids so have only added Pterostylis to our genera found this season.

Eriochilus, Leporella and Pterostylis, I wonder which genera will be next.