Tangle Root Orchid - Plectorrhiza tridentata

These photos were taken this morning in Robertson. They are photos of Plectorrhiza tridentata - the "Tangle Root Orchid". This species is not common here, but there are a few places of relatively little disturbance where these plants still "hang on".

That dreadful pun is because they are in a  group of Orchids known as "Twig Epiphytes" which literally attach themselves by their roots to flimsy structure on other plants. In this case it was growing on (hanging from) a large, but dying plant of Cassinia trinerva.

I have posted an album of a number of images which are easily accessed and can be scrolled through quickly,

Here is my clearest photo of the flower.

Plectorrhiza tridentata
The Tangle-root Orchid
Note the spur below (behind) the white labellum.
That is where a "nectary" is located.

Plectorrhiza tridentata
Note the yellow top of the column visible above the white labellum.
Apparently this flower is perfumed
(I cannot detect the perfume myself)
and is pollinated by native bees.

My favourite image - showing the hollow tube
leading to the Nectary
of Plectorrhiza tridentata

And this is why I made that dreadful pun about these few plants "hanging on". That's what they do - quite literally. Hence the name "Twig Epiphytes". The scientific name "Plectorrhiza" means "plaited or twisted roots" - a very apt name.

Plectorrhiza tridentata
hanging from a low and flimsy branch of a Cassinia.