Tiny Orchid Quest

Our monthly field trip today was focussed on orchids in Enfield State Forest. You wouldn't guess how many you might see in forest like this:

But if you look carefully, there are tiny orchids everywhere.

A wax-lip orchid (Glossodia) from an odd angle:

Gnat orchids (Cyrtostylis) are the tiniest of tiny orchids:

Spider orchid (Caledenia):

A greenhood orchid (Pterostylis):

Leopard orchid (Diuris pardena):

Maybe another leopard orchid, or something related:

Pink fingers orchid (Caladenia carnea):

Common bird orchid (Chiloglottis valida):

Another species of bird orchid - maybe a lowland bird orchid. The difference is the number of little black "bumps" on its tongue:

Several people spent a lot of time counting those bumps, trying to be sure if there were more or less than ten.

There were several other orchid species seen,and lots of non-orchid flowers. And lots of birds, and a black wallaby. It was another interesting field trip to places down back roads we would never know about otherwise.