Greetings fellow foxies,
Hare orchids (Leporella fimbriata, Latin - hare fringed), is the sole species in the Leporella genus, which flowers in autumn from southern WA to Victoria. They occur in dense patches of small egg-shaped leaves on the soil surface, from which only about 1 in 6 plants flower each year. Plants in the patches are clones. Near the end of each season each plant sends out two rhizome like droppers away from the stem, which sends down a tuber for a new plant.
There are only a few hare orchids in pale sandy soil in Foxes Lair, but lots on the southern end of the Highbury reserve trail in late May/early June.
Hare orchids (Leporella fimbriata, Latin - hare fringed), is the sole species in the Leporella genus, which flowers in autumn from southern WA to Victoria. They occur in dense patches of small egg-shaped leaves on the soil surface, from which only about 1 in 6 plants flower each year. Plants in the patches are clones. Near the end of each season each plant sends out two rhizome like droppers away from the stem, which sends down a tuber for a new plant.
There are only a few hare orchids in pale sandy soil in Foxes Lair, but lots on the southern end of the Highbury reserve trail in late May/early June.
 |  |  Rare lutea form |
| As there are few flowers to mimic and few pollinators in autumn, orchids that flower then have to produce nectar or a scent to attract the few insects around. Hare orchids are very unusual in being pollinated by winged bull ant males (Myrmecia species see this image). It is a myrmecophyte (word of the week). The orchid emits a female pheromone to attract a male, which lands sideways on the wide labellum and begins 'mating' (poor fellow). A close view of the column shows that both the stigma and pollinium overhang the labellum, so that the ant dislodges pollen sacs on to its back and deposits other pollen on to the stigma as it bumps around. |  |
Ant flights are infrequent, usually in humid weather before a front in autumn. Unfertilised hare orchid flowers compensate by staying open much longer than other orchids. As rainfall decreases and autumn rains become more variable hare orchids are likely to gradually retreat back towards the coast.