This season has just been amazing for orchids. I have taken my first obsessive and addictive steps towards finding all the orchids I can. What an experience!!

So far in the Conimbla National Park and surrounds 18 different orchids species have been found since June 2020. They are all fasinating in their own way and well worth taking the time to search for. It has been a huge learning curve and we thought you might like to see some of these amazing plants.

Anyone has a chance of finding some of these special plants and currently a few of them can be found if you go for a bushwalk along the Ironbark trail to Cherry Creek Lookout in the National Park. Others you might have to look a little bit harder for 😉

Australia has more than 1700 of the 25–30,000 species in the Orchidaceae family known globally, yet, regrettably, 25 per cent of orchid extinctions occur here. In part our species are vulnerable because they require symbiotic relationships with specific types of ‘mycorrhizal’ fungi to grow and germinate, and many are pollinated by a unique species of pollinator.

An example is the Pterostylis curta (Blunt Greenhood) in the pictures below. It is germinated by Certobasidium fungi and pollinated by Mycomya fungus gnats. Very specific requirements!!!

We would love to hear about any orchids you find in your travels. Contact midlachlanlandcare@gmail.com 🙂