It is spring in Victoria, and the orchids of the seasonally arid regions of western Victoria are going off now—this is the bloom of the bow-lipped spider orchid, Caladenia toxochila, mainly known from the Little Desert region near Nhill #botany #ozplants #ozflora #orchidaceae

A bird-pollinated carnivorous plant? Absolutely! Utricularia menziesii is Australia's own bird-pollinated carnivore, with large, pinkish-red flowers attractive to the Western Spinebill (Acanthorhynchus superciliosus) #ozflora #botany #nature #utricularia academic.oup.com/aob/advance-ar…

Caladenia robinsonii is an endangered orchid known from one natural site, with a reserve population established at a protected location by local authorities to safeguard its existence; it is just one of many species threatened with immediate extinction #botany #ozplants #vicflora

Sticking with the domestic theme, Diuris orientis is one of the most recognisable of the donkey orchids found in Victoria, being widespread, if highly localised, and found across much of the southern half of the state #ozplants #botany

Streptocarpus is a gesneriad genus native to central, eastern and southern Africa, as well as Madagascar and the Comoros. This is Streptocarpus hilsenbergii, inadvertently found growing on a gneissic seepage at a roadside in central Madagascar #botany #madagascar #plants #nature

Nepenthes sibuyanensis is a rare tropical pitcher plant endemic to one mountain in Romblon Province, the Philippines. It grows primarily along open ridges on degraded ultramafic rubble at elevations of 1200–2000 metres #nepenthes #philippines #carnivorousplants #botany #plants

The terrestrial orchid Cryptostylis carinata was described from New Guinea in 1912 & thought endemic till we discovered a population on Palawan, the Philippines, in 2007. This species relies on pseudocopulation to effect pollination #botany #orchid #philippines #cryptostylis

My last project before joining RBG Victoria has printed & shipped—introducing the monograph to Cephalotus, Australia’s most iconic carnivorous plant, a not-for-profit title synthesising all of the most recent research pertaining to this fascinating little plant #ozflora #botany

After years of training, detection dog Daisy has used her incredible sense of smell to locate one of the rarest fungi in the world, tea-tree fingers. A fantastic collaboration between Zoos Victoria & RBG Victoria #RBGVScience #royalbotanicgardensvic abc.net.au/news/2024-05-1…

Our latest work deals with the use of sniffer-dogs to [successfully] locate one of the world's rarest fungi, 𝘏𝘺𝘱𝘰𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘴𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘴! Paper here, plus ABC article on my most recent repost #royalbotanicgardensvic cell.com/iscience/fullt…

A memorable life goal, meeting the #antplant #Myrmecodia #lamii, 3440 m elev., Lorentz National Park. Hiking up here invariably involves massive headaches, but the flora & wonderful Papuans are a real panacea against pain! #WestPapua, #NewGuinea #royalbotanicgardensvic #botany

This week our Orchid Conservation Project leader Dr Noushka Reiter oversaw reintroductions of Critically Endangered 𝘊𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘢 𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘪 to native bushland increasing its chances of survival #RBGVScience #royalbotanicgardensvic 📸: Ryan Phillips & Alastair Robinson

Our scientists are collecting leaf samples of endangered 𝘎𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘢 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘷𝘶𝘭𝘢 to ensure our 𝘦𝘹 𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘶 collections represent the broadest possible genetic diversity of the species as insurance material against extinction events #RBGVScience #royalbotanicgardensvic

A collaborative study involving RBG Victoria scientists reveals generalist pollinator strategy in critically endangered 𝘗𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘱𝘩𝘺𝘭𝘭𝘶𝘮 𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘶𝘣𝘶𝘮, enabling more flexible selection of reintroduction sites! #RBGVScience 📸: Tobias Hayashi publish.csiro.au/BT/BT23110

A collection of 23 watercolours by Elizabeth (Betty) Conabere (1929–2009) in Victoria's precious State Botanical Collection has been scanned. They will be available to view on our website later this year! 📸: Betty Conabere #RBGVScience #royalbotanicgardensvic #watercolour

RBG Victoria scientists with Parks Victoria, DEECA Victoria and volunteers have reintroduced 230 CR 𝘊𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘢 𝘢𝘶𝘥𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘪 into western Victoria following a successful trial with >80% survival and subsequent recruitment #RBGVScience 📸: John Woodward & Noushka Reiter

Corybas incurvus is a relatively small, winter (June to September)-flowering helmet orchid native to VIC, TAS, SA and NSW, Australia. This terrestrial species is widespread and can be locally abundant, but habitat loss has erased numerous former populations #Botany #orchids

Fabaceae runs riot in Western Australia, with hundreds of species in many genera. A favourite is Isotropis cuneifolia—Granny bonnets or Lamb poison—the latter name being apt as they contain a potent nephrotoxin, iforrestine; few people have grannies this funky #botany #ozplants

Primula hirsuta growing beneath a partly frozen waterfall; some of the adjacent plants were encased in ice following an ice storm on the flanks of Monte Legnone, above Pagnona, Provincia di Lecco, Lombardy, Italy #botany #primulaceae

A labelled pen & ink technical illustration of Drosera indica—a carnivorous sundew—prepared for a botanical publication. Inset is a vascularised glandular hair (adapted from Mauseth, 1988) and a unicellular eglandular hair from a scanning electron micrograph (Wise, 2014) #botany