We awaken to an overcast morning, so have breakfast before packing up just as it starts to drizzle. It is decided to check out the surroundings a bit further before heading off. We again find and take photos of the Dainty donkey orchid (Diuris refracta) and the Dainty blue orchid (Cyanicula amplexans) which were previously found yesterday afternoon.

Heading back toward the Mullewa – Wubin Road we pull over on the verge of Offszanka Road at a spot that had been taped off. Here we found a Mallee fowl mound and some nice wildflowers, but no orchids.

Hitting the road again we head south to Morawa where we enjoy a great coffee at a popup stall, before grabbing a bite to eat at the bakery. Deb even gets in a spot of shopping with items purchased as Christmas presents. Moving on we pull over at Bowgada and looked around, including venturing into the Bowgada Nature Reserve. First up we find some more Dainty blue orchids before stumbling across some Ant orchids (Caladenia roei). These orchids occur over a large area and there are differences between southern and northern populations. These northern orchids have fewer calli on their labellum.

Just as we were about to move, on a lone Hairy-stemmed snail orchid (Pterostylis setulosa) was located standing tall, with nearby Dainty blue orchids. These are the most common inland snail orchid and they flower from late June right through to September.

Finally on the road again. 2 hours further south we turnoff at Kondut and pull over at a road side verge to stretch our legs. On our wander we discover some donkey orchids. Due to location, colouring and reflexed lateral sepals I believe they are Dainty donkey orchids (Diuris refracta).

Also found, which is very exciting were some spider orchids. Over the area numerous plants were found with differing colours, however the erect petals lead me to name then the Ironcaps spider orchid (Caladenia paradoxa). It is named the Mystery spider orchid in the Spider Orchids eBook 2018, which matches the scientific name better as this alludes to the difficulty in resolving it as a distinct species.

However a very yellow coloured spider orchid must be a different species. Upon checking my references I feel it could be the Yellow spider orchid (Caladenia denticulata subsp denitculata). The features that help with this ID are the yellowish-green colour of the flower and the petals and sepals arching out before drooping.

Then another spider orchid with a large broad labellum is found, whilst the Ironcaps spider orchid has a small labellum. The orchid is white in colour so is not the Yellow spider orchid either, It may be the Common spider orchid but again this has a small labellum, so I will not attempt to name it this time. As with all my ID’s any assistance provided would be appreciated.

We still have around an hour of driving before reaching Koorda, where we have booked a room at the hotel for the night, so we had to move on. Not a bad jag with this roadside stop. Possibly three or more species of spider orchids, though they could all be one. ID is so hard with the wispy type of spider orchids.