List of the orchids of Western Australia

Among the many wildflowers in Western Australia, there are around four hundred species of orchids.

Diuris brumalis - Donkey Orchid

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:

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
Rhizanthella gardneri
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
Diuris
plate III from West Australian Orchids, 1930
  1. 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


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