15/05/2021 ….. Saturday saunter up the lookout.

Dempster Head, Esperance, Western Australian Orchids

Debbie has a shift this afternoon so I decide to go exploring near the Rotary lookout (Mud Map SE34) at Dempster Head in Esperance, as the weather is quiet nice. Parking up at the lookout I head towards the port and discover new markings for walk trails. Following the trail with a blue colour and Cowslip orchid markings, I discover no orchids in flower until I am way past the water tanks and walking the gravel trail toward Lovers Cove. It was along here I finally discovered some white bunny orchids in flower.

From the stem leaf shape and size, they appear to be the White bunny orchid (Eriochilus dilatatus subsp. dilatatus) which is a common orchid found in coastal areas from Dirk Hartog Island to Israelite Bay. They flower from as early as March through to May, with up to 7 flowers per stem which can reach up to 350mm in length.

After exploring right down to Lovers Cove and back up no other orchids were found. So I decide to call it quits after 1hr of exploring, happy with my finds but hanging out for more variety on the next hunt.

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