Diuris chryseopsis just starting to flower.

This plant suffers with several bad names. One is "Small Snake Orchid" - who would want to be called that?

The other popular name is "Small Golden Moth Orchid" - that's not much more endearing.

Lets stick with the scientific name - Diuris chryseopsis.

This is a lovely plant with a demure flowering habit - the flowers droop over, unlike the related Donkey Orchids, which hold their "ears" high.

Diuris chryseopsis

Close-up of Diuris chryseopsis

Diuris chryseopsis - often has two flowers per stem

Last year, there were hundreds of this species in flower in this one particular area along Tourist Road, Kangaloon.

But after the flowers had finished, the contractors doing the "slashing" on behalf of the Catchment Authority slashed the area where these hundreds of plants had flowered. So, naturally the seed capsules were damaged or lost, before they had ripened. Hence a whole colony of plants were unable to reproduce that year.