CARLTON MARSH ORCHIDS

   In the damper and wetter areas of Carlton Marsh at this time of the year you can find hundreds of orchids. Most of these areas are specially managed by cutting down the vegetation later in the year to allow these fantastic flowers to be seen before the grasses and reeds block them from view.

   Identification of the various species of orchid is not something that I claim to be any good at so please be tolerant of any mistakes here or in the future. The vast majority of plants here are the Southern Marsh Orchid but the trouble is that they occur in many different colour forms some with spotted foliage and some without, and this genus of orchids is also prone to hybridize making positive identification difficult for the likes of me. This purple flower below is pretty much a typical Southern Marsh Orchid.

   These two flowers below are obviously much paler with one of them looking like a Heath Spotted Orchid but whether this is the case or in in fact they are hybridized Southern Marsh Orchids would require someone more knowledgeable than me to confirm. All I know is that I love to see them and all other orchid species.