With a weekend of climbing on my mind, comprising two trips to Welly Dam, I thought I better get a quick walk in during the week to check for orchids. Based on my finds this time last year, I had three places in mind. One was more out of the way, another I knew I would lose an hour or two at, and the last was probably the most convenient being on the way home and likely to be a short visit. This saw me sneaking in a pit stop at the Minninup Tuart Woodland, where I sneezed my way round due to the hay fever season finally catching up with me:
My primary aim was to catch a glimpse of the Tuart Rufous Greenhood (Pterostylis frenchii). You may think it was because of the two Rufous Greenhood species I found on my wonderful trip to visit Kym last weekend. But in truth it was probably because Josh had sent me an image of one that Kellie had found. With assistance, when she was given a tour round a patch of bush in this area, and it may well be the same spot I know of. My first sighting of this species, being a poorly known and only found in one or a few locations, was last year:
And if you check back at the image of the find in the previous post you’ll see the setting looks strangely familiar (https://sandbagged.blog/2025/11/28/the-right-place/). Because, it happened to be exactly the same spot. Last year I came here late in November, which is still five weeks away. Back then I found several specimens in bloom, this time only one was out. It is however a great image in my opinion as it shows the flowers in five, if you look carefully, stages of coming out from their respective and snug protective leaf:
I really wasn’t expecting to see much else, and it seemed that way as I walked round. There were several of Sun Orchids all closed up again, and nice Leopard Sun Orchid (Thelymitra benthamiana) that was open. And then I stumbled across three White Spider Orchids, one was wilting badly but the two I have included here were still in pretty good shape. Five weeks back this place was covered in them, and it was a little overwhelming. The strange thing however is that all three I found today were pale forms, of which I didn’t see any last visit:
Pale form orchids in Australia generally flower at the same time as the normal coloured plants of the same species, rather than coming out later. And I can find no explanation as to why I may have been lucky enough to have observed this but am not complaining. The first two images are of a Sandplain White Spider Orchid (Caladenia speciosa). Having included the close up of the flower head of both finds as it shows the variation of the features, including the calli and fringe configuration, size, and shape. The second find below and above is less clear:
On my first visit here I found a similar specimen in terms of both the shape and how it was holding its petals an sepals rigidly, Back then, even with some expert input, we could one only work out that it was a cross between a Sandplain White Spider Orchid and something else, but what we did not know (https://sandbagged.blog/2025/10/02/a-sticky-ending/). This time it appears that I found a cross between a Coastal White Spider Orchid (Caladenia longicauda subsp. calcigena) and maybe that same something else:
That was it on the orchid front. There were many other flowers out and I couldn’t resist inlcuding the above Leafless Fringed Lily (Thysanotus sparteus). I see these quite often, and then I found a shrub with paler flowers. Just one such shrub, and it may be the lesser sighted Fringed Lily Thysanotus arbuscula. Fringed Lilies (Thysanotus), like Sun Orchids, only open up when there is sunlight and warmth, closing up when it is dark including when it is overcast or raining. Unlike the Sun Orchids this year, the Fringed Lilies are sticking to this routine:
Saturday morning Howsie and I drove up the hill to climb at Welly Dam for a climb, only to be thwarted by a mountain biking competition that had commandeered the entire quarry. It was way too peopley so we drove on. Instead going for a walk to the place I mentioned felt more out of the way, Crooked Brook. There was not much to see on the orchid front, other than Sun Orchids that were still all closed up. This one however was partially open. Being a Plain Sun Orchid (Thelymitra paludosa), which has the largest colour variation of the all the species:
