Tobias Westmeier’s Website

Pansy Orchid
Diuris magnifica D.L.Jones 1991

Notes

The Pansy Orchid is one of Australia’s most beautiful Donkey Orchids. It is readily identified by its relatively large, golden-yellow flowers with extensive purple, red, orange and white markings across the labellum mid and lateral lobes. Each plant can carry up to 10 individual flowers, the colour of which is generally highly variable.

Flowering in August and September, the Pansy Orchid is restricted to the sandy soils of the Swan Coastal Plain in WA from near Guilderton in the north to Mandurah in the south. It is abundant in remnant bushland across the Perth metropolitan area where it often forms vast colonies that can be made up of hundreds of plants and are a spectacular sight in late winter and early spring.

While superficially similar to other species of Donkey Orchid, the Pansy Orchid is generally identified by its large and colourful flowers. It closely resembles the Arrowsmith Pansy Orchid (Diuris tinkeri), but is distinguished from that species by its more southerly, coastal range.

Photos

Diuris magnifica
The flowers are golden-yellow with often extensive purple markings on the labellum lobes. (Melville, WA, 16 / 08 / 2014)
Diuris magnifica
The colouration of the flowers is generally highly variable. (Kwinana, WA, 20 / 08 / 2017)
Diuris magnifica
Some flowers are particularly colourful and feature red, orange and white markings. (Melville, WA, 09 / 2011)
Diuris magnifica
Another example of the highly variable and colourful flowers. (Melville, WA, 15 / 09 / 2012)
Diuris magnifica
View of the full plant with its narrow, grass-like leaves. (Kwinana, WA, 03 / 09 / 2017)
Diuris magnifica
The Pansy Orchid occasionally forms spectacular colonies comprising hundreds of individuals. (Melville, WA, 15 / 09 / 2012)
Diuris magnifica
The inflorescence can be made up of up to ten individual flowers. (Kwinana, WA, 10 / 09 / 2016)
Diuris magnifica
The Pansy Orchid is abundant in remnant bushland across Perth. (Kwinana, WA, 10 / 09 / 2016)
Diuris magnifica
The comparison with a thumb illustrates the relatively large size of the flowers. (Kwinana, WA, 03 / 10 / 2020)

References