Baluk Willam Orchids

25 September 2004

I went out, spending most of the day at Baluk Willam Flora Reserve. This started out as the Friends’ Group meeting but for various reasons it ended up with a few of us just wandering around. After everyone had left I ended up doing some weeding by myself and, before I knew it, it was lunchtime.

Highlights were a lot of Spider Orchids (Arachnorchis, formerly Caladenia) were out. Apart from the Wine-lipped Spider-orchid that I had posted before, there were also a few Arachnorchis dilatata (Green-comb Spider Orchid) flowering (as well as several buds).

Interestingly, there was either a great variation of Wine-lipped Spider-orchid (Arachnorchis oenochila) or there are several similar species in the park. I will have of confer with the experts.

Also new for this year are the Wallflower Donkey Orchids (Diuris orientis). I saw them in bud when I visited a week ago but now they are in full and magnificent bloom. They have some color variation from pure yellow to yellow with suffusions of brown or purple.

Late in the day I visited Chandlers Hill in the Dandenong Ranges National Park. Here I saw two Green-comb Spider Orchids, which is great because they are uncommon there. Also saw lots of Pterostylis alpina and Diuris pardina, both of which mostly had mature (wilting) flowers. Several Diuris orientis were also in flower here.

Also saw my first Wax-Lip (Glossodia Major) for the year. It was a nice flower but the bad light meant I wasn’t able to get a good photo. I’ll have to explore the hill more in better light but the weather for the coming week isn’t too bright.

Name	Date	Size
Parent Directory - Photos of 2004	14-Nov-2011 15:53	-
Arachnorchis BalukWillam9256005.jpg	25-Sep-2004 22:48	21.6 KB 384×512
Arachnorchis BalukWillam9256035.jpg	25-Sep-2004 22:55	22.9 KB 384×512
Arachnorchis BalukWillam9256068.jpg	25-Sep-2004 22:58	19.2 KB 384×512
Arachnorchis BalukWillam9256085.jpg	25-Sep-2004 23:00	21.4 KB 384×512
Arachnorchis BalukWillam9256086.jpg	25-Sep-2004 23:07	27.1 KB 512×608
Arachnorchis BalukWillam9256093.jpg	25-Sep-2004 23:10	29 KB 512×608
Arachnorchis dilatata BalukWillam9256110.jpg	25-Sep-2004 23:12	29.3 KB 384×512
Arachnorchis dilatata ChandlersHill9~6133.jpg	25-Sep-2004 23:17	33.4 KB 512×672
Caladenia carnea BalukWillam9255992.jpg	25-Sep-2004 22:38	47 KB 512×680
Diuris orientis BalukWillam9255974.jpg	25-Sep-2004 22:28	55.1 KB 512×680
Diuris orientis BalukWillam9255978.jpg	25-Sep-2004 22:33	44.4 KB 640×512
Diuris orientis ChandlersHill9256146.jpg	25-Sep-2004 23:19	23.4 KB 384×512