Medium-sized Mauve orchid counting ends

Just as:

  • the small blue orchids (called Cyanicula caerulens when I am feeling formal - and included as such in the genus Caladenia by Plantnet!!)  pulled up stumps for the season, 
  • the Medium-sized Mauve orchids (following Prince, this could also be called TOSKAG - The Orchid Sometimes Known As Glossodia) kicked in.
I have now declared that the Glossodia-counting season is officially over so here is a summary of that season.
The season was a few days later starting up, but whether that means this year was late or last year was early is a good question!  As with Cyanicula I found many fewer flowers this year than last.  Presumably this was something to do with the weather, but I have no idea what.

The following image is a clip from Google Earth showing the site.  
The medium grey area, inside the red boundary, is mainly Kunzea ericoides with occasional marsupial tracks,  The dark grey is overhanging eucalypts and the lightest area is some form of cow fodder (aka grass).  It's about 20m x 5 m.  The direction is important as in both years the flowering has started at the Southern end and taken about 10 days to get flowers throughout the site.  (Of course about that time the number in the Southern end starts to decline!)

This morning while doing my final count (I was passing by, so why not) I found the first Thelymitra of the season on our block. I am reasonably confident it is T. pauciflora.

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