The Orchids of Seven Mile Beach National Park are just starting up their New Season of flowering. By that, I mean the Autumn and Winter Orchids, of course.
The sandy walking track from the main parking area, (roughly opposite Beach Road - coming from Berry) parallel to the beach (and the road) runs for approximately 1.5 Km, and it houses perhaps the most dense collection of Corysanthes (formerly known as Corybas) and Acianthus plants which I know of (over such a large area). We also found some of the Cobra Greenhoods (which I have also found in the Southern highlands in the previous week), a few Bunochilus (Tall Greenhoods) and one lonely Petalochilus pictus (Formerly known as Caladenia picta)
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| To me, finding this flower, Petalochilus pictus is always exciting Not only is it very attractive, to me it represents the precursor, the harbinger, of the winter/spring flowering Orchids. It typically flowers from May to June. The related flowers in the Highlands flower through to November. |
The Corysanthes are perhaps the most interesting for me, as these plants do not seem to grow in the Southern Highlands (to the best of my knowledge).
Corysanthes fimbriatus were just in flower, whereas some Corysanthes pruinosus were still only at the budding stage. PlantNET seems to indicate "Cor. fimbriatus" does grow west, to the Dividing Range, but I have not yet seen it in the local area.
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| Deeply hooded flower of Corysanthes fimbriatus |
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| The same flower Corysanthes fimbriatus seen laterally. The base of the flower has an arch (a "boss") then a fringed rim The hood encloses the tube leading down to the centre of the flower | . |
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| Acianthus fornicatus |
This is why I referred to it as tall.
The leaves of Acianthus are held on a stem, normally,
but seldom are the leaves as far off the ground as this one is.
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| Mobile phone for scale shows how high off the ground the leaf of this Acianthus fornicatus was. |
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| Diplodium grandiflorum (the Cobra Greenhood) showing the flared edges of the hood. |
