Ground Orchids of late Autumn are starting up.

Post number 667. I passed the "Number of the Beast" and didn't even notice (until today)! That's good. Superstition is not ruling my life.

The Ground Orchids of late autumn are now starting to flower.

Interestingly, there is a great variation in flowering seasons of the Tall Greenhood (Bunochilus longifolius). These plants were flowering half-way down Macquarie Pass (in a warmer environment than up here on the Robertson plateau), and over at Fitzroy Falls. This one was photographed at Fitzroy Falls on 14 April. Yesterday, the plants at Macquarie Pass were still in flower, but obviously getting towards the end of their flowering season.

There is a colony of this same species, living in a very dark (shaded) area, along the Belmore Falls Rd. Today, members of this same species of plants are far from ready to flower - still forming their stem leaves, prior to forming the flowering spike. By the time they are ready to flower, they will be as much as two months behind the other members of their species. Obviously location and aspect have a very strong influence on flowering time.

The other species in flower here today is the Superb Greenhood, (Diplodium grandiflorum). These are the first of this species which I have seen in flower this year. Here is the front-on view of this plant, showing why it earns its other name, the "Cobra Greenhood".By the side view, it looks more like a conventional Greenhood.