On our walk this evening we spotted this Australian native ground orchid Dipodium punctatum (Hyacinth Orchid).

Hot pink spotted petals in the evening sun.
We are bang smack in the middle of suburbia. Talk about surviving against the odds.
I love the soft pink of the tree trunk (Eucalyptus mannifera or White Brittle Gum) with the bright pink of the orchid.
Just in case there isn’t enough pink already, some of the other E. mannifera planted nearby have even a stronger colour, enhanced here by the low light of the setting sun.
Wow. What a little bit of magic in this moment.
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It certainly was. Several years back I found another one of these orchids on another roadside verge about a kilometre away from this one. Given that this area was subdivided from farmland in the mid-1970s, it stuns me that these plants have survived for so long. In both cases they are close to large trees so they benefit from the fact that these places don’t get mown.
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I love seeing this kind of thing happen. Somehow I always interpret it as a sign of hope. Survival. Determination. And enjoyment of being alive.
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Ah what a beautiful flower, the pink reminds me of the tall wild foxgloves that sometimes spring up in Britain and Ireland.
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It’s pretty remarkable as many of our ground orchids are only a few inches tall and can be hard to see.
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Ah, I see! I am afraid that significance was a losty on me. I just thought it was remarkable for growing in the town, without being cultivated! lol!
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Not to worry Emma I couldn’t expect you to know the arcana of these plants. But it is remarkable that it’s growing where it is. I just hope someone doesn’t pick it as it still has a way to open and set seed.
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Such beauty, glorious
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Tough little critters aren’t they! It is almost thumbing its nose, telling us it can survive wherever it feels like! And such a beautiful plant. Love those gums too.
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The gums really are special at this time of year. They were selected as a street tree for our suburb in the 1970s when native plants were fashionable. I love them.
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