It has certainly been a disappointing first month of autumn in the orchid world. A few more Sharp Midge Orchids, Corunastylis despectans, featured in our March News, managed to push their way up through the dry soil.
We were pleased to find one specimen of the Bearded Midge, C. morrisii, flowering off Flaxbourne Road in early March, but we have no records of any more having been observed. This species can be easily distinguished from the Sharp Midge by the dark hairs fringing the dorsal sepal, petals and labellum.
Bearded Midge Orchid
The late March rains that were so gratefully received should mean that many more flowering stems of this orchid and also of the Fringed Midge Orchid, C. ciliata, will be found in the next few weeks. Other autumn flowering orchid species will also benefit from the rain.
Fringed Midge Orchid
Margaret MacDonald and Gail Slykhuis