Among the many wildflowers in Western Australia, there are around four hundred species of orchids.
Early identifications
One of the first botanists to study Western Australia was Archibald Menzies, aboard HMS Discovery, who explored King George Sound in 1791. Many of the samples (including orchids) were lost in the return to England, but those that did survive were documented in Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen, published by Robert Brown in 1810.
The first three orchids from Western Australia to be named were Caladenia menziesii (now Leptoceras menziesii), Caladenia flava, and Diuris longifolia.
In 1802 Robert Brown himself collected 500 specimens of flora from Western Australia, including:
- Diuris emarginata var. emarginata
- Diuris emarginata var. pauciflora
- Diuris setacea
- Epiblema grandiflorum
- Microtis alba
- Microtis media
- Microtis pulchella
- Prasophyllum gibbosum
- Prasophyllum macrostachyum
- Thelymitra canaliculata
- Thelymitra tigrina
- Thelymitra fuscolutea
In West Australian Orchids (1930), Emily Pelloe described and illustrated an extensive survey. She provided an English text, paintings, and drawings for the amateur reader, a mixture of impression and scientific illustration of the genera.
Orchids of South Western Australia
| Common name | Genus | No. species in southwest W.A. | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Babe-in-a-cradle | Epiblema | 1 | |
| Beard orchids | Calochilus | 6 | |
| Blue orchids | Cyanicula | 11 | |
| Bunny orchids | Eriochilus | 6 | |
| Donkey orchid | Diuris | ~36 | |
| Duck orchids | Paracaleana | 13 | |
| Elbow orchid | Spiculaea | 1 | |
| Enamel orchids | Elythranthera | 2 | |
| Fairy orchid | Pheladenia | 1 | |
| Fire orchids | Pyrorchis | 2 | also Beak orchids |
| Greenhoods | Pterostylis | ~90 | |
| Hammer orchids | Drakaea | 10 | |
| Hare orchid | Leporella | 1 | |
| Helmet orchids | Corybas | 4 | |
| Leafless orchid | Praecoxanthus | 1 | |
| Leek orchids | Prasophyllum | 25 | |
| Mignonette orchids | Microtis | 14 | also Onion orchid |
| Mosquito orchids | Cyrtostylis | 5 | |
| Potato orchids | Gastrodia | 1 | also Bell orchid |
| Pygmy orchid | Corunastylis | 1 | |
| Rabbit orchid | Leptoceras | 1 | |
| Rattle beaks | Lyperanthus | 1 | |
| Slipper orchids | Cryptostylis | 1 | also Tongue orchid |
| South African orchids | Disa bracteata | 1 | introduced |
| Spider orchids | Caladenia | 125 | |
| Sugar orchid | Ericksonella | 1 | |
| Sun orchids | Thelymitra | 37 | |
| Underground orchids | Rhizanthella | 1 |
- This table has its source as the Second Edition of Hoffman and Brown in 1992
References
plate III from West Australian Orchids, 1930
- Heberle, Ron L. "History of Orchid Collecting in Western Australia, 1791 - 1971". The Species Orchid Society of Western Australia (Inc). Retrieved 29 September 2005.
Further reading
- Hoffman, Noel & Andrew Brown (1996). Orchids of South-West Australia. Nedlands: University of Western Australia Press. ISBN 1-875560-51-3.
- Dixon, Kingsley W., Bevan J. Buirchell and Margaret T. Collins (1989). Orchids of Western Australia : cultivation and natural history. Victoria Park: Western Australian Native Orchid Study and Conservation Group. ISBN 0-7316-9213-6.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - Hopper, Stephen D. and A. P. Brown (2001). "Spider, Fairy and Dragon Orchids of Western Australia". Nuytsia. 14 (1/2).
- Hopper, Stephen D. and Paul Gioia (2004). "The Southwest Floristic Region of Western Australia: Evolution and Conservation of a Global Hot Spot of Biodiversity". Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics. 35: 623–650. doi:10.1146/annurev.ecolsys.35.112202.130201.
- Heberle, Ron L. (1991). "Thelymitra, the Sun Orchids of South Western Australia - The genus" (PDF). Proceedings of the 12th Australian Orchid Conference, Perth. Vol. 35. OSWA. pp. 40–43.
- George, Alexander Segger and Herb E. Foote (1971). Orchids of Western Australia. Perth: Westviews.
- George, Alexander Segger (1971). "A checklist of the Orchidaceae of Western Australia". Nuytsia. 1 (2): 166–196.
External links
- The Species Orchid Society of Western Australia (Inc) — a gallery of orchids from Western Australia
- Orchids from Western and South Australia
- Terrestrial orchids of the south west western australia
- Orchid Conservation Coalition