Purple Beard Orchid

Beard Orchids, Calochilus sp, need warm, humid days to fully open. Their common name obviously refers to the hairy or bearded labellum. Calos = beautiful and cheilos = lip.

The two or three examples I came across recently in Sweetwater Creek NCR are probably Calochilus robertsonii, the Purple Beard Orchid although I’m happy to be corrected. John George Robertson was a Scottish naturalist who collected the species in the mid-19th century.

There are about 6 species of Calochilus that grow in Victoria. Several of them are listed as endangered under the Victorian Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 20224.

The cryptic nature and short flowering period means these beauties are often difficult to locate – most of the time it is just luck to come across one.

Like several other orchid species, the Purple Beard Orchid is ‘probably’ pollinated by pseudo-copulation by a male wasp species; the flower either emits a female wasp pheromone or appears visually like a female – or both. The male wasp is attracted to the flower and becomes the pollinating vector as it visits other plants in the vicinity. The flowers can also self-pollinate after a time.

C.robertsonii is a fairly widespread species that grows in a variety of habitat such as heathy or open woodland from the coast to the foothills.