Sun Orchid

Today was the first day in a couple of weeks where the weather was not rotten and a warp factor 10 gale blowing! I took advantage of the relatively still and sunny conditions to try a new wildflower spot close to where I've worked in the past.

It was pretty disappointing until I was about to leave the area and spotted a colony of these!

I will defer to Denis' experience but I think they might be the Slender Sun Orchid, Thelymitra pauciflora.

(Click images to enlarge)

There was a variation in colour from pale mauvish blue to darker mauve-blue.

This shot shows spotting on the outer part of the labellum which I thought was rather neat!

I was probably very lucky to see this orchid as apparently, they only open on warm, sunny days. It's not particularly warm today but definitely an improvement on what we've been experiencing here of late!