List of the orchids of Western Australia
Among the many wildflowers in Western Australia, there are around one thousand species of orchids.
Contents
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 Calaenia menziesii (named after Menzies), 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
- Epiblima grandiflorum
- Microtis alba
- Microtis media
- Microtis pulchella
- Prasophyllum gibossum
- 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 | |
| Beak orchids | Burnettia | 1 | |
| Beard orchids | Calochilus | 27 | |
| Blue orchids | Cyanicula | 10 | |
| Bunny orchids | Eriochilus | 9 | |
| Donkey orchid | Diuris | >50 | |
| Duck orchids | Paracaleana | 13 | |
| Elbow orchid | Spiculaea | 1 | |
| Enamel orchids | Elythranthera | 2 | |
| Greenhoods | Pterostylis | ~200 | |
| Hammer orchids | Drakaea | 10 | |
| Hare orchid | Leporella | 1 | |
| Helmet orchids | Corybas | ~130 | |
| Leafless orchid | Praecoxanthus | 1 | |
| Leek orchids | Prasophyllum | 110 | |
| Mignonette orchids | Microtis | 20 | also Onion orchid |
| Mosquito orchids | Cyrtostylis | 5 | |
| Potato orchids | Gastrodia | 61 | also Bell orchid |
| Pygmy orchids | Genoplesium | 30–40 | |
| Rabbit orchid | Leptoceras | 1 | |
| Rattle beaks | Lyperanthus | 2 | |
| Slipper orchids | Cryptostylis | 23 | also Tongue orchid |
| South African orchids | Disa bracteata | 1 | introduced |
| Spider orchids | Caladenia | 243 | |
| Sun orchids | Thelymitra | ~93 | |
| Underground orchids | Rhizanthella | 3 |
- This table has its source as the Second Edition of Hoffman and Brown in 1992
References
plate III from West Australian Orchids, 1930
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Further reading
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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
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