Pyrorchis nigricans Red Beaks Endemic
Most often you will only see the leaf, flat on the ground and no flower stem or flowers. This is because flowering is stimulated best by the chemicals in smoke. The year before (2014) there had been significant fires in this part of western Australia and so the following year Pyrorchis nigricans was found flowering in good numbers where there previosly had only been leaves showing. In some cases, decades can go by with no flowers before the smoke stimulus causes flowers to appear.
Pyrorchis nigricans is a tuberous perennial plant growing in many places from occasionally near Geraldton, down the coast to Margaret River, Albany and Esperance but the distribution is uneven and it does not spread too far inland to the wheat belt.
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| Pyrorchis nigricans Red Beaks |
Mount Chudalup, Western Australia, 27th September 2015
Added on April 11th 2019