Orchids of WA’s Eastern Granites- Andrew Brown

Andrew Brown will be well know to most members through his superb orchid and eremophila books.  He will talk tonight about one of his favorite orchid hunting grounds. Andrew says:

“As you travel eastwards from Hyden to the Lake Johnston-Balladonia area, rainfall drops dramatically and the further east you go the more intermittent and unreliable it becomes.  This is not ideal for native orchids and means that, over much of this area, only the hardiest species can survive.  However, there are places that provide habitat niches for orchids.  These are the granite outcrops which capture the often meager rainfall in soil pockets and run-off areas and enable 41 orchid species to flourish.  In this talk, I will cover six of my favorite eastern granite outcrops, found between Lake Johnston and Balladonia, and talk about the orchids that grow on there.”