Caladenia brevisura - Short-sepalled Spider Orchid
A pretty little orchid with a bright flower to around 30 mm (1"). I have only seen it after a summer bushfire around a granite outcrop and only then just a few plants. It might be the case however of being in the right place at the right time, because it is apparently quite widespread in the district. Flowering time from August to October.
Update 25/09/08
Discovered a few more plants growing in a shallow soil on a low granite outcrop amongst Borya constricta in the mallee NE of Esperance. The last fire in the area was in the summer of 2005, so have probably missed their main flowering. When encountered, it was blowing a gale with fine rain spitting horizontally at high speed, making photography a little difficult. However the wind did draw attention to the extremely irritable labellum being supported on a narrow hinge (claw), making it flap up and down rapidly. Despite the conditions, these photos nevertheless show flowers in better condition than my original ones, so have included a couple.
Short-sepalled Spider Orchid - Caladenia brevisura
