These were sent to Canberra for identification and inclusion in the National Herbarium. Among them was a small collection of leek orchids by Hans and Annie Wapstra of Blackmans Bay who regularly searched the sandy heath lands in the area to see what orchids were flowering. The Recovery Plan. This yielded a further surprise. On Bruny Island, in the Labillardiere State Reserve, lots of leek orchids were found after a bush fire.
Many orchids respond to fire by flowering.
They have underground tubers which are not affected by the heat allowing them to recover before any of the other vegetation. As other heath plants recover and become denser, orchids tend to disappear until the next fire. At first the Bruny Island leek orchids were identified as a probable new species. Further examination of the specimens as part of the Recovery Plan work established that they were P. concinnum . Later the species was found in other south-eastern swampy heaths and also on the west coast.