Artwork 53 Hyacinth Orchid at Lower Glenelg River
Section 28
Bizarre and Showy Australians with Gondwanan Ancestry—Kangaroo Paws, Grass Trees, Flame Lilies, and Orchids
Lower Glenelg River National Park, Victoria, Victoria
- 1. Dipodium roseum (hyacinth orchid)
from the artist
On a hiking trip to the lower Glenelg River in Victoria we saw many flowering “hyacinth orchids”. In this painting, the orchid is Dipodium roseum, with petals and sepals coloured pink with deeper pink splotches, and the distinctive central petal—the “lip” (labellum)—having darker pink lines, and yellow colouration to the fused style and stamens within (Corrick & Fuhrer, 2000, p. 167). We also saw orchids with quite heavily blotched pink flowers and others with pale pink flowers fading to near white—quite varied! They were growing in bush and forest in sandy, rocky areas along the river banks. Hyacinth orchids are leafless and saprophytic, feeding on decaying organic matter.
