Tasmanian Native Orchids

About Tasmanian Orchids

Tasmania has around 196 different native orchid species but changes to nomenclature constantly occur so this figure varies. Over 60 are endemic – only found in Tasmania. They represent a significant part of the flora of Tasmania and are fascinating plants for many reasons.

Many orchid species have short flowering times and can be difficult to locate in the field. Some have very local distribution meaning they occur in just a few small spots over a wide area. Outside of the Spring and Summer flowering species, many are green, brown and other muted colours so tend to blend in with the surrounding vegetation. Finding them can be a challenge. While there is a large ‘flowering flush’ in the Spring and early Summer, at least one or more species can be found at any time of the year within a 30-minute drive of Hobart.

Fortunately, Tasmanian orchids are now well documented and a number of identification tools are available – see the reference list below.

 

Whats flowering around Hobart? 

(The following notes are based mainly on what I see around Hobart and are by no means an exhaustive list of what might be found flowering in Tasmania)

Spring 2023

Looking back a year ago, the ‘problem’ for orchid enthusiasts was too much wet weather. The sun orchids refused to bloom, there was a lot of rain and grey skies. This Spring the situation is completely reversed. The Eastern Shore of Hobart was dry as dust in September and the Caladenia caudata colony at Waverley Floral Park did not flower at all. The Diuris (pardina or Leopard Orchid) on the Eastern Shore were very shy of flowering and were quite stunted but a few flowers around Pottery Road were more normal though down on previous seasons.

In mid October thankfully the later flowering Diuris sulphurea – Tiger orchid was fairly abundant in some sections of Waverly Floral Park.

The Caladenia clavigera like the caudata were virtually a no-show.

The rain stopped falling in SE Tasmania in early summer and was substantially below usual levels right through winter. I assume this very dry summer and winter are responsible for the marked reductions in flowering for some species. There seem to be much Bandicoot activity around some colonies as well.

All was not gloom and doom, as some species such as the ubiquitous Glosodia major (Waxlips) were often seen albeit still in reduced numbers in some spots. Caladenia carnia, cracens(graceful caladenia) and alata (dark caladenia) were plentiful around areas such as Huon Road, the trails behind the Cascade Brewery, Waterworks and so on.

The Blue Fairies (Pheladenia deforms), Caladenia echidnachila (Fawn spider orchid) and the bearded greenhood, Pterostylis stamina were seen around the end of Pottery Road though populations of the Pheladenia and Fawn Spider seem well down. Thelymitra species – Sun orchids also seem well down in some spots but are currently flowering in reserves around Kingston/Blackmans Bay.

In summary there is still plenty to see around Hobart but numbers of flowering orchids are down overall compared with the last few years.

Diary Notes for Previous Months

See the Whats Flowering page for previous months flowering notes

Tasmanian Native Orchid Website

My site records images of Tasmanian native orchids captured in the field mainly around Hobart but also from a few sites further afield on the East Coast and far South East. Species are displayed alphabetically by genus. This is a long-term project to record photographs taken in the field so check back again for more images.

These are amateur observations simply based on my own experience in the bush and do not claim to be botanically correct.

Each month I update the site with details of the latest observations.

All photographs are the author’s own work and copyright applies but if you have any interest in any of these images let me know.