Other summer flowering orchids

The sun orchids are the most visible of the summer flowering orchids but if you look closely then you'll see a number of other orchids including these Aporostylis or odd-leaved orchid.


A clump of Aporostylis bifolia - a small orchid with one large and one
small leaf

There's a colony of Chiloglottis cornuta, or green bird orchid, on my boundary track - it's in a dense clump about a metre square...

Another interesting orchid are the two species of Microtis or onion orchid. Microtis oligantha is small with a few sparse flowers; Microtis unifolia is much larger (15-35cm) with many flowers crammed together. I have many Microtis unifolia growing amongst the grass and always feel guilty when I get them when cutting the grass.

Microtis unifolia

There are still a few Pterostylis (greenhood orchids) in flower - I saw this beauty the other day...

...but most of the early flowering orchids have shrivelled flowers and swelling ovaries like this spider orchid...

After a week or so, the swollen ovary gets pushed up high as the stem grows - I wonder if this is so the seed is spread as far as possible?

Elongated stem on left hand side