Field Guide
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Butterfly Orchid
Small semi-pendulous epiphytic orchid. 5 - 15 cm across, stems to 5 cm long.
Leaves
3 - 10 thin leathery oblong, sometimes curved, dark green leaves 2 - 11 cm long and 4 - 17 mm wide.
Flowers
1 - 4 pendulous sprays of 2 - 17 pale yellowish-green to brown flowers, lip white with yellow tints and purple stripes. Sepals and petals narrowly spoon-shaped, spreading; lip short, 3-lobed, projecting forward, side lobes broad, erect, curved inwards.
What to Observe
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Presence
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First fully open single flower
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Full flowering (record all days)
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End of flowering (when 95% of the flowers have faded)
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No flowering
Climate Adaptations
By virtue of their sensitivity to the changes in the climate, epiphytes and orchids provide a forewarning about impending damages and act as bio-indicators.
When and Where
When To Look
- Year round
- Flowering time October to December
Where To Look
- Found between the Hunter River in NSW through south-eastern Victoria to northern Tasmania
- Epiphytic on mossy branches and trunks in fern gullies of cool rainforest and tall closed forest
- Look in fern gullies and gorges and on stream banks in rainforests
- Although scattered and uncommon, it can be locally abundant
What Else?
Plant hosts in Morwell National Park, Victoria are varied. In descending order of importance they include: Pittosporum undulatum, Coprosma quadrifida, Pomaderris aspera, Olearia argophylla, Rapanea howittiana, Cassinia longifolia.
