Named for C. Gaudichaud- Beaupré, a French botanist who sailed with the French expedition of Louis de Freycinet. Gaudichaud found and recorded these orchids at Port Louis where they still flower. They have a pale green flowers, almost white, the outer petals have very distinctive darker green veins and the inner petals are pale yellow often with green lumps along their length. A stout stem up to 25 cm (9.8 inches ) high supports up to three flower heads. Leaves, spiraling around the stem, are dark green with a network of darker veins. In dry weather Gaudichaud's Orchid might resort to self fertilization. Likely to be found on damp Diddle- dee heathland or on wet White Grass flats. Besides the Falklands they are found in southern Chile and Andean Patagonia.

This plant is legally protected. It is an offence to deliberately pick, collect, cut, uproot or destroy a protected wild plant.

Sources include:Plants of the Falkland Islands- Ali Liddle, Flowering Plants of the Falkland Islands- Robin W. Woods,The Vascular Flora of the Falkland Islands- D. M. Moore, B.Sc., Ph.D, 1968, Falkland Islands State of the Environment Report 2008 Otley H, Munro G, Clausen A, Ingham B. iucnredlist.org

Photographic credits: Robert Maddocks

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