So we move onto our 7th location of the day which is just another random roadside stop on the boundary between Coomalbidgup and East Munglinup localities. All depends on which side of the road you are 🙂
The Western tiny blue orchid (Cyanicula aperta) is the first orchid found at this spot. These little orchids are found between Dumbleyung and Mt Ragged from August to early-October.
Next up the Purple enamel orchid (Elythranthera brunonis) is spotted dotted around this location. They can be found growing between Israelite Bay and Kalbarri from August to early-November,
An orchid that is found on both sides of the road is the Small mantis orchid (Caladenia attingens subsp. gracillima). These are found growing between Jerramungup and Israelite Bay from August to early-October.
The wispy spider orchids from the Filamentosa complex are the next found. One specimen appears to be the Cream spider orchid (Caladenia horistes) whilst a nearly finished specimen could be the Common spider orchid (Caladenia varians).
Our location is found within the recorded distribution of both species, both flower during September, plus their flowers and leaves are of similar appearance. I will leave it for you to decide if they are the same species or not.
As this area was also subject to last summer’s bushfire the next orchid found was as expected.
Red Beaks (Pyrorchis nigricans) flower from August to October between Shark and Israelite Bays.
Last orchid recorded for this location is an unfurling Dancing spider orchid (Caladenia discoidea), which are found flowering from August to early-October between Kalbarri and Israelite Bay.
Location 8 is another random stop along the road. Change of vegetation so we will see if anything new is found.
First orchid located was a donkey orchid, however based on only 1 specimen I will not attempt to ID it at this stage. Will share to iNaturalist for assistance in this regard
The following orchids have all been found previously today and recorded in this blog so I will post 2 pics each only to record they were found in this new location.
Western tiny blue orchid,
Small mantis orchid,
Red Beaks,
Cream spider orchid,
Purple enamel orchid.
Finally, a new orchid for this blog is found.
Nothing special unfortunately but something new is something new.
The Cowslip orchid (Caladenia flava subsp. flava) is widely distributed between Northampton and Israelite Bay flowering from July to early-December
Just as we were heading back to Fili I spied a tall yellow orchid.
Woohoo it is a new orchid for today !!!!!!
The Custard orchid (Thelymitra villosa) grows to 600mm in height and can have up to 20 flowers per plant.
They are found between Northampton and Israelite Bay from September to November.
What a great way to finish off this location.
So, over the 2 random roadside stops we found 10 species of orchids.
Sometimes it pays just to pull over and look.
Off to our final destination of the day.
Refer Part IV
Thanks so much for continuing this excellent blog. For us over on the east coast, it’s a window into the beautiful orchids of WA that we don’t have the opportunity to see.
I am pleased you find my blog interesting. Our native orchids are indeed beautiful.