Monday, January 3, 2022

Caleana major (Flying Duck Orchid)


A beautiful Caleana major (Flying Duck Orchid, Large Duck Orchid) !
Distribution: Eastern and southern Australia

Although one of its commonly known name is Large Duck Orchid, it is actually quite small  :-)
Its flower remarkably resembles a duck in flight !

The flower is an attractant to insects, such as male sawflies which pollinate the flower in a process known as pseudocopulation  :-)

In 1986 the orchid was featured on an Australian postage stamp.

Photographer: John Graham
Date: 2021-December-19
Location: Odin Head (near the town of Mt Victoria), Blue Mountains, NSW, Australia

It was found in a bushwalk ... from Victoria Brook up to Odin Head via a spiked tree.

More photographs from the bushwalk (including the above orchid) are in this link:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/15KynQbI2-iNzk8WXMPj5lB-DL0-y7tax/view?usp=sharing

Please visit my main page at https://mntviews.blogspot.com/

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