Terrestrial Orchids

Some of the plants from the orchid family belong to rarest surviving plants on the planet. Some of the species are disappearing fast. Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne, including the nursery, continues to propagate and maintain the collections of the most vulnerable species of orchids, a number of which is being re-introduced into their natural habitats.

• Key Plants
• Curator Notes
• History

Key Plants

Caladenia venusta × C.tentaculata

White spider orchid. Originally growing in woodlands West of Port Phillip Bay, also in Grampians. It used to be quite common. Now it’s extremely rare.

Caladenia robinsonii

Up to 30 cm tall. Flowers mostly red, showy. This orchid is extremely rare and known only from one location in Victoria. Royal Botanic Gardens has been very successful with growing it. Flowers in October.

Diuris fragrantissima Sunshine Diuris

Very handsome plant up to 27 cm tall. Flowers aromatic. It is very rare, restricted to grasslands near Sunshine, West of Melbourne with some presence near Wodonga. Flowers in October/November.

Diuris punctata

This orchid grows to 60 cm tall. There can be up to 10-12 individual purple-coloured flowers in an inflorescence. Still quite abundant in isolated colonies throughout Victoria, also NSW, SA, and Qld.

Caleana major

Caleana major is commonly known as ‘The Duck Orchid’ because the shape of its flower resembles a duck in flight. Flowers September to November. Often quite common in open forests or heathlands.

return to top

Curator Notes

1. Most of the species in the collection are endangered or very rare in the wild.
2. All of the orchids in our collection have a period of dormancy.
3. All of the orchids in the collection are in a symbiotic relationship with insects and fungi.
   

return to top

History

The collection was established in 1979. A large number of terrestrial orchids are critically endangered. In 1985 it was further expanded and supplemented by collecting more orchids for research purposes. The seeds obtained from the collection are used in propagation. Some of the new plants are used in research and some are re-introduced into original habitats.

return to top