When walking in Oxley Wild Rivers National Park last weekend (Budd’s Mare to Riverside) we came across several of these orchids growing on and in tree trunks (a.k.a. epiphytic). I’ve not been able to track it down but believe that this orchid might be a Dendrobium or Dockrillia.
UPDATE: John Richards comes to my rescue by commenting that this specimen is Cymbidium canaliculatum. It does actually appear in the field guide to native orchids which I was using to try and identify the plant, but I must have flicked past it too quickly.
Detail of the orchid flower.
Related posts:
- Hyacinth orchid There haven’t been as many Dipodium sp. (a species of...
- Donkey orchid The next round of orchids have appeared. We now have...
- Caladenia orchid A slightly soggy-looking specimen of Caladenia sp. This tiny orchid,...
- Another Diuris sp. orchid Another Diuris sp. orchid. I found this one growing near...
- Autumn orchids Autumn. After a few months without terrestrial orchids on the...
Nice photo Gordon. The plant is a Cymbidium canaliculatum one of the three cymbidium species that are native to Australia. They are as tough as nails as they need to be in your area when it decides to snow in November. Further west in the Inverell area the are often seen growing in old Box trees, in the open fully exposed to the sun and frost. Their roots get into the old rotten heart wood where moisture collects, thus they can survive the hot dry summer conditions.