Flying Duck Orchid

The Flying Duck Orchid, Large Duck Orchid or just Duck Orchid, Caleana major, is endemic to the south-east corner of Australia. The genus, ‘Caleana’ refers to George Caley who was an early English naturalist, explorer and botanical collector. The species, ‘major’, refers to it being the larger of two variations of this plant.

I stumbled (happens often these days) on two small colonies of this quirky orchid in Adams Creek NCR recently and again a little later in Sweetwater Creek NCR.

Because of their distinctive/quirky appearance, it is always a delight to come across ‘ducks’ in the wild. Sometimes they are not easy to spot. They grow in a variety of habitats; I have found them in gravelly woodland and, like these at Adams Creek, in almost pure sand.

Notice the spider web. Many orchids and native wildflowers have attendant spiders waiting for some prey to visit the flower.

Because of their distinctive appearance, Duck Orchids are popular amongst orchid hunters and many clever people have tried to grow them - with little success. Propagated plants barely survive one season of flowering. This probably has something to do with the plant requiring a relationship with a particular mycorrhizal fungi in the soil.

Another special characteristic of the Duck Orchid is that it produces a pheromone that attracts male Sawfly wasps. When the wasp enters the flower, the labellum (the duck’s ‘head’) closes quickly downwards (below image) and traps the insect which struggles to escape. After some time, perhaps 15-20 minutes, the labellum opens again and releases the wasp which now has a coating of pollen for its visit to the next orchid. How clever is that?

Yet another weird feature of this amazing orchid is that the structure of the flower is ‘upside down’; the labellum is at the top of the flower and not towards the base like most orchid species.

We are so lucky to live in this amazing corner of our planet!