Over time, Helen has published information on a selection of orchids with photographs to accompany them. Here is the list of species. See here for all species in order of publication.
Acianthus pusillus – Mosquito Orchid
The little hardy one
This orchid is so common, many orchid enthusiasts overlook it when on an orchid excursion. It is small, difficult to photograph, and as it is very close to the ground, many…
Arachnorchis tentaculata – King Spider Orchid
The King
The king spider orchid is one of the largest orchids, and the most common spider orchid that grows in the Adelaide Hills. It can stand nearly a foot high, with the flowers nearly…
Bunochilus viriosus – Adelaide Hills banded Greenhood or Tall Greenhood
Robust
This orchid used to be part of the Pterostylis family, and is commonly found with Urochilus sanguenea. Like U. sanguenea, the plant will produce either a flowering stem or a…
Corunastylis sp. – Midge Orchids
Small Wonder
This genus would have to be one of the most frustrating orchids to identify (at least I think so), and when found in the wild only looks like a twig sticking out of the ground, but when looking…
Corysanthes diemenica – Veined Helmet Orchid
Helmets
Upon first inspection, it looks like some moss where some gum-nuts have fallen. However, it turns out that the gum-nuts are these little helmet orchids. These orchids tend to grow …
Cyrtostylis robusta – Winter Gnat Orchid or Robust Gnat Orchid
Common in winter
This species is very similar to its sister Cyrtostylis reniformis. The main difference is the flowering time with C. robusta flowering in winter and C. reniformis flowering in …
Diplodium sp. – Shell Orchid
Facing away
In this post, I will be dealing with Diplodium robustum, Diplodium sp. Adelaide Hills, and the hybrid the occurs from both. These plants flower between May and August…
Dipodium roseum – Common Hyacinth Orchid
A Common Summer Orchid
In summer there are not many orchids which are found flowering. However the Dipodium family has a couple of species that show themselves during our hot season…
Dipodium pardalium– Spotted Hyacinth Orchid
A Spotted Summer Orchid
Dipodium pardalium is distinguished from D. roseum by the small pink spots, not stripes, found on the labellum. These two species are very similar having the same flower shape and size and…
Diuris orientis – Wallflower Orchids or Bulldog
Striking colour
This is a very common donkey orchid, which is always a pleasure to find on a pleasant spring day…
Eriochilus cucullatus – Parson’s Bands
Nice and Early
The Parson’s Bands is a small white flower that appears from late March to May and is reasonably common. The flowers always appear before the leaves, which can then last some time after flowering…
Leporella fimbriata – Fringed Hare Orchid
Sand lover
This common orchid is found in sandy soils flowering mainly from March to May. However it can grow in gravelly soils, but requires fire to encourage flowering, where as colonies will flower readily…
Linguella nana – Little-greenhood
Small Orchid
Linguella nana refers to a complex of a possible six unnamed species. For this post, I will be discussing Linguella sp. Hills nana. The genus name describes it labellum which is hidden in…
Nemacianthus caudatus – Mayfly Orchid
The Mayfly
This little orchid is very similar to Acianthus pusillus but flowers in spring instead of autumn. It has similar heart-shaped leaves to Acianthus pusillus, but the flowers are very different. They are…
Oligochaetochilus arenicola – Sand-hill Rufoushood
Slender
As well as introducing you to this fascinating orchid, I will use it as an example for some tips in orchid identification. However, later on, I do have an interesting tale to tell on this species…
Pheladenia deformis – Blue Beard or Blue Fairy-orchid
A favourite
For some reason, this orchid has never been very high on my list to look out for. In a way, it could be described as my forgotten orchid, as often I totally forget it. However, I’ve had several…
Pterostylis pedunculata – Maroon-hoods
The little fellow
This is an attractive little greenhood. It has a distinct maroon top on the flower and its sepal. I’ve only seen this orchid with a single flower per stem. It is a reasonably common…
Thelymitra antennifera – Rabbit Ears
Lemon scented
The genus of sun orchids can be quite daunting to identify, but thankfully in South Australia Thelymitra antennifera is the most commonly encountered yellow sun orchid with its…
Urochilus sanguineus – Maroon Banded Greenhoods
The long and short of it
This species used to be listed as a Pterostylis, and is similar strucurally to the Bunochilus. Often it is found with Bunochilus, but they have not been known to hybridize. It has a…
Orchid ‘look-a-likes’
Lobelia gibbosa – False Orchid
The Pretender
It’s summer, and not a lot of orchids are about, but wait, who is that pretty blue flower over there? Is it an orchid? I’ve never seen it/read about this flower before...
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