Black Orchid

Description:

A native to Australia, the black orchid is an epiphytic species belonging to the family Orchidaceae, and grows in the forks and hollows of trees. Aka tiger orchid, banana orchid and Queensland black orchid, to name but a few. This is a clump-forming plant, and has long, smooth, narrow leaves that can grow to a length of 60 cm. Flowers are produced in large clusters or "racemes" that grow to about 40 cm. Individual flowers are star shaped and about 4 cm across. No flowers on this plant yet as it's winter. This spotting was found growing in the fork of a poplar box, a eucalypt species.

Habitat:

Spotted in bushland at freshwater Lake Broadwater, which forms part of the Lake Broadwater Conservation Park.... https://parks.des.qld.gov.au/parks/lake-... This region is very flat, and Lake Broadwater is the only large, naturally-occurring freshwater lake on the Darling Downs. Dalby is the nearest town. NB: Just a little over 12 months ago and this lake was completely dry due to the massive drought that Australia experienced. It's wonderful to see how the lake and surrounding bushland has recovered. Birdlife was abundant.