Website of Tobias Westmeier - Nature - Orchids of Australia

Winter Donkey Orchid
Diuris brumalis D.L.Jones 1991

Notes

As its name suggests, the Winter Donkey Orchid flowers during the winter, usually from late June until August, and is one of the first Donkey Orchids to flower each season. It is found over a small region of the Darling Scarp and adjacent Wheatbelt between Moora and Boddington in south-western WA and is particularly abundant along the western edge of the Darling Scarp near Perth, growing in granitic, lateritic and loamy soils in forests, woodlands, shrubland and around granite outcrops. It is very rare in the sandy soils of the Swan Coastal Plain.

Due to its early flowering period, the Winter Donkey Orchid cannot be confused with any other species in the Perth Hills during late June and July when it is the only Donkey Orchid in flower. The similar Common Donkey Orchid (Diuris corymbosa) does not normally start flowering until mid August. Another similar species is the Western Wheatbelt Donkey Orchid (Diuris brachyscapa) which is generally smaller, flowers slightly later (August) and is more common across the western Wheatbelt.

In addition to its early flowering period, the Winter Donkey Orchid can be identified by the warm yellow colour of its flowers and the dark-orange (as opposed to red or purple) markings on the mid and lateral lobes of its labellum. As with many Donkey Orchids, the flowers are somewhat variable, and the orange markings in particular can be faint and indistinct. The long, slender leaves are grass-like in appearance and for that reason difficult to locate when the orchid is not in flower.