Spectacular Spider Orchids of the Angelsea area.

Last weekend we went orchid hunting* the Angelsea area, lands of the Wadawurrung People. It was truly spectacular – I have never seen such a large number of orchids and such a wide variety in a single day before in many years of orchid hunting. This was the first time I have been looking for orchids in the Angelsea area, so I can’t comment on whether this year is a particularly good year for orchids in this region or not, but I was full of joy at seeing so many beautiful orchids – not just single individuals here and there, but whole patches thriving and dancing in the wind.

*no orchids are harmed in ‘orchid hunting’ activities, only photos are taken.

One of my favourite types of native orchids are the spider orchids. Not that there really any non-favourite native orchids in my book hahaha. However, until recently, I had only really ever seen Caladenia Tentaculata in any numbers, but am always envious of people in Western Australia sharing their photos of the massive variety of elegant spider orchid species. C Tentaculata (what a cool name), is commonly known as King Spider Orchid in South Australia where I first fell in love with native orchids, but I have heard it called Mantis orchid and Green comb spider orchid in Victoria.

In Angelsea this week we saw at least 4 different varieties of spider orchids. Some I was unsure if the subtly different features represented normal intra-species variation or if they were actually different species, or even a hybrid. I ordered a handy field guide book to the orchids of the Angelsea district from ANGAIR to learn more, and the following are my best guesses to the identities of the spider orchids we saw. Some I am still a little unsure of, so if you are a fellow orchid nerd reading this and can confirm or correct any of my IDs below, I’d love to hear from you.

Large white spider orchids (Caladenia venusta).

We saw a huge number of these large white spider orchids. I am unsure if the variation is intraspecies variation or if there are hybrids or more than one species here, as some had large white petals, some were more light green in colour, the mouth markings ranged from bright red to maroon coloured, some had wide petals and others were more narrow, and some had longer tendrils than others. Even with the guidebook I am not 100% confident in identifying the difference between a Large white spider orchid (C. venusta) and the Robust spider orchid (C. valida) for the ones with greenish tinge to the petals. All were stunningly beautiful. Caladenia venusta is considered Endangered, so it was even more special to see so many of them flowering in the Angelsea area. Here are some of the many candidates that I think are Caladenia venusta:

Possible hybrid spiders?

It is possible for some orchid species to hybridise naturally. We saw a few spider orchids with characteristics that seemed to be a mix of more than one species.

Caladenia tentaculata (King spider orchid / Mantis orchid / Green comb spider orchid).

These are the kind of spider orchids I am most familiar with seeing across South Australia and Victoria. Most of the ones spotted in the Angelsea area were quite small compared to some others I have seen.

Caladenia cardiochila (Heart-lip spider orchid).

I had never seen this species of spider orchid before this trip to Angelsea! We found several patches of them, although not nearly as many as the large white orchids or king spider orchids. They are more chunky, with red/orange tinges and a heart shaped tongue.

Caladenia clavigera (Plain-lipped spider orchid).

We saw quite a few of these spider orchids with red/yellow colouring, and a dark red tongue. I was not sure what species they are, but with the guidebook I think they are C. clavigera (Plain-lipped spider orchid) rather than Caladenia australis (Southern spider orchid), as they have a smooth mouth rather than fringed or toothed… If you are an orchid nerd and are familiar with these species, please leave me a comment below or get in touch via instagram if you can clarify or correct any of my spider orchid IDs.

Other native orchid species found in the Angelsea area in October.

In addition to these (and many other) individual spider orchids, we also saw a huge range of other native orchid species, including: Pterostylis plumosa (bearded greenhood / plumed greenhood), Glossodia major (wax-lip orchid, purple cockatoo orchids), many kinds of Diuris (donkey orchids) including some all-yellow ones, Caladenia carnea (or similar pink finger orchids), various sun orchids (blue, yellow, salmon pink), rabbit orchids (Leptoceras menziesii) and Fire orchids (Pyrorchis). We also saw a lot of sun orchids that were not fully open yet, so perhaps they will be blooming in the coming weeks.

It truly was such a spectacular day for an orchid nerd like me. Despite the gusty winds, I was very happy with all the photos I managed to take away with me as memories of the beautiful orchids.