Rattle Beaks - Lyperanthus serratus
Usually encountered as individual plants or a few together, it is nevertheless widespread in deep sandy soils amongst heath communities. They tend to grow in reasonably dense low vegetation and despite the numerous large flowers (50 mm or 2" wide) and growing to half a metre in height, are commonly overlooked due to their pale green coloration.
Once seen however, they are very striking and you wonder how you could not have seen them. A tip is to look for the long narrow leaf that is quite distinctive, then look for the flowers. When found, give them a gentle shake to find out how they get their Rattle Beak name. They flower September to October and cannot be confused with other orchids.
