Blogging Milestone, or Millstone?

Today I publish my 1000th blog posting.

My favourite photo
Lena had just given me a "welcome back" lick on my nose,
after my extended absence in Canberra, for Chemotherapy treatment.
This image is on my "desktop" on my 'puter.

So, is the one thousandth Blog a milestone, or is Blogging a millstone around my neck? Sometimes I resent the burden of "having to blog" every day, or nearly every day.

But in truth, I find the discipline extraordinarily useful and I am in a sense writing the natural history of the Southern Highlands, day by day, picture by picture. It might never be published as a book, but that probably does not matter, as it is already published (admittedly without the helpful hand of a skillful editor to tell me what to cut out as "rubbish"). But I am confident that there is a lot of information in these 1000 web pages. Hopefully people will find some of it to be useful, informative and even, occasionally, entertaining.

Blogging is also very satisfying, and for me, it is much better than a personal "diary", because I am basically a communicator. Hopefully I fulfill a role, also, as an educator, and a part-time entertainer.

I know that a lot of people read my writings or have looked at some of the 3750 photos I have published since I started out on this little adventure.

The nature of Robertson Site Summary
VISITS
	Total	80,691
	Average Per Day	148
	Average Visit Length	1:23
	Last Hour	6
	Today	138
	This Week	1,035

I started on 26 November 2005, approaching 4 years ago.
That is 1435 days, so I am averaging a post on just a fraction under 70% of days - better than 2 days out of 3.

This image shows Zoe standing in the yard below my house,
on 17 May 2004, the day when we planted
all those Wattle Trees as a wind break.
My how things have changed since then.

I must say a word of thanks to Anni, without whose encouragement and assistance I would never have started blogging. She hosts my "Peony Diary", in fact she started it for me, in my absence in hospital, so I could see what was happening with my Peonies, while I was away from Robertson. How generous was that?My first post, and a very experimental one it was, was entitled "Odd little things which grow around Robertson", and it was about an Orchid - the Flying Duck Orchid, in fact.

My first "lucky shot"
This was the first image I took in which I realised
after I had developed it on the computer,
that I had captured something unexpected.
In this case, a flower spider inside her web, inside a Flying Duck Orchid.
She is waiting to catch an insect attracted to the Orchid.My second Post was entitled: "And what's this about Peonies?"

I note that from the statistics on the "labels" (prior to tonight) I have referred to Robertson 323 times; Kangaloon 167 times (that would be about friends of mine who live there, or the Waratahs and other interesting native shrubs which grow there, or about Orchids, for which the area is justifiably famous); Ground Orchids 117 times, birds 97 times; the SCA 92 times (of which 91 would have been somewhat critical, or negative, but I do remember saying something nice about them once!); I have mentioned the Sandstone cliffs and the underlying sandstone soil structure of the area 58 times; I have written about the Community Technology Centre at Robertson (the CTC) 47 times; I have written about Fungi 35 times; moths 26 times; fog (in Robertson) 22 times; and I have referred to my nemesis in the bush, the Leech, 7 times.

I have frequently written about the social and environmental events which occur in Robertson. In this case, the naming of the Laurence Langley Memorial Redwood Grove (in Robertson). A team of volunteers (as usual) from REPS, helped cut back a lot of privet bushes and also erected the memorial sign.

Another feature of the social life of Robertson is the Robbo Show,
and so also is the irrepressible Taz, with Lena.
Lena is wearing a Show Ribbon which she did nor really earn.
But that's all part of fun of the "Kids and Pets Parade" at the Robbo Show.
When out in the bush I occasionally find an interesting insect,
and if I have been lucky enough to get a good photo I will publish it.
My personal nemesis - in the bush - a Leech.

I love fungi, and this image, and logo, is as close as I go to declaring a position on "creationism". I am NOT a creationist, but I do have a great sense of Wonder, triggered by what I cannot help as see as fantastic impulse within Nature to solve problems by means of wonderfully elegant design solutions - such as this gorgeous little Fungus (the size of my little fingernail).
The Blind Watchmaker theory does not satisfy my need to understand Nature.
I do not believe in the great Bearded Designer in the Sky either.

Instead I look at Nature with a sense of Awe. It makes me wonder why is Nature so beautiful? Does that make me a "Pantheist"? I truly do not know, but I do tend to see God in Nature, and Nature is all around me.

Wikipedia's article on Pantheism concludes with these comments:
"some pantheists hold that the pantheist viewpoint is the most ethical viewpoint; Neo-Pantheistic ethics are based on the belief that any action initiated resonates throughout all of existence. What is good and evil is not mandated from something outside of us, but is a result of our interconnectedness. Instead of consideration based upon fear of divine punishment or hope of divine reward, the better Pantheistic ethical decision comes from an awareness of mutual interrelation."

Certainly, when I look at what I believe to be going wrong with the World (I mean - politically) I can ascribe that to a breakdown of "awareness of mutual interrelation". In my mind, that applies as much to day-to-day politics as to the Natural Order of things.

But I can console myself, when nobody listens to me, that, at least there are orchids to admire!

Surprises at Tarlo, north of Goulburn.

Today I went with Alan Stephenson to hear a lecture by Mark Clements, a CSIRO expert Orchid researcher from the Centre for Plant Biodiversity Research. It was an interesting talk, about the challenges ahead in managing the CSIRO/ANBG Orchid Collection. One of the issues he raised was the possibility of having a self-sustaining commercial operation where they might grow and sell Orchids. That will scare the conservative management of the Dept of Environment which is the ultimate manager of the Botanic Gardens (ANBG). He also spoke about the work he has been doing for years, reclassifying Orchids (what is seen as simply re-naming Orchids), but it is obviously much more than that. There were several people in the audience who spoke critically of the "new names".

After the lunchtime lecture, Alan and I headed back up the Highway, to Goulburn and then on the Taralga Road to a district named Tarlo. We had been invited there by Lynette, a local property holder who had found some unusual Greenhood Orchids at her place.

From a photo which she had sent us, it was clearly one of the "rufa group" of Greenhoods, or "Rustyhoods" as they are known.

Indeed they are in the "rufa" group.

A quick look at the labellum revealed this.
The shape of the labellum and the lateral sepals
indicates it is Oligochaetochilus squamatus
This plant was previously known as Pterostylis squamata
Click to enlarge the photo and see the diagnostic bristles on the labellum.
Here is a flower with the labellum "triggered"
From directly in from, this is what the flower looks like
(with the labellum snapped closed - up inside the flower).
This is what the plants look like, in situ.
This plant was about 8 inches tall (approx 200 mm).

Here are two plants growing close together (amongst grass)
Here is the leaf rosette.
the leaves are dying off,
which Alan explained is normal once these plants start to flower.
This was very satisfying as it was a new species for all of us.
Lynette (who had found the plants, but didn't have a name for it)
and myself and Alan and also it was new for
Mark Selmes, from Mt Rae, had joined us to inspect these plants..
So it was a genuine thrill for all concerned.

For the record, these plants are 15 kms north-east of Goulburn, growing on sandstone and shale hillside, in dry stony conditions. This is well outside the previous recorded range for this species.

*****
*****

After studying these flowers, we went off to see a "dead bird" which Lynette had also found.
This was the thing which had interested Mark Selmes most of all.
All she knew was that it was a large grey and silver bird.
It had been suggested it might have been a Tawny Frogmouth.
A quick glance showed it was a very large Owl
Almost certainly a Powerful Owl.
The talons are immensely powerful.
I am convinced it is a Powerful Owl (Ninox strenua)
The bird had been dead for a long time, and was quite dried and "leathery".
I estimate it might have been dead for several months,
and had seemingly died in natural circumstances.
The body was more or less intact.

As it is an Endangered Species, Mark is very keen to get the remains positively identified and the record formally reported.

Too much excitement for one day!

Yet another Donkey Orchid

At the risk of boring everyone silly, here is a new Donkey Orchid, which I found for the first time, yesterday. It was on the road from Mittagong (Welby, actually) to Wombeyan Caves.

The particular locality was very sandy soil, with poor, low "Sandstone Heath" shrubbery around. There were lots of the lovely Purple Native Iris, (Patersonia) there.

Anyway, this Orchid looked at first glance, like Diuris pardina, which I saw at Goulburn in September. But these are flowering five weeks later.

I took a bunch of photos, to "compare and contrast", later. Sure enough this one is a different species.

I have concluded that this species is Diuris semilunulata.
I can even see a "half-moon" in the dorsal sepal of the flower (the large bit above the "labellum" and "column"). The flaps on either side of the labellum are technically, part of the labellum, and are referred to as the "side lobes" of the labellum. These are wide, and nicely coloured. The "mid lobe" of the labellum (the main part) is deeply folded, and is clearly "wedge-shaped".
One of the features of this flower is how the petals (the "Donkey ears") are reflexed back - to an almost horizontal position. The front face of the petal is golden yellow, but the reverse side of the petal is heavily spotted brownish red. It is less dark than D. pardina. All together it is a brighter red coloured flower than that plant (except for the bits which are yellow). From face on, the "lateral sepals" (the "double tails") are not visible at all - because they are so heavily reflexed back underneath the flower. They are there, as I will show you.

Here is an overhead view of the flower
It shows the "ears" and the "half moon-shaped" dorsal sepal
and Labellum.
The side lobes of the Labellum are clearly visible,
protruding either side of the mid lobe of the labellum,.
Here is a low angle view of the Flower.
You can now see the "lateral sepals" (the "double tails")
which were hidden from view before.
Contrast these with the long straight lateral sepals of the mauve Diuris
which I showed last week.
From one extreme to another.

Here is a labelled image,
to try and help with the terminology of these flowers.
This is a side-on view of this flower.
One of the petals is reflexed back so far it is horizontal.
The lateral sepals are so strongly recurved
that they actually swirl down and start to rise back up,
above the main stem (passing above the green ovary)
The petals and sepals of this flower are much more strongly reflexed
than the closely related D. pardina which I showed several weeks ago.
I would remind you that it is also much redder than that species.

Here is the full set of local Diuris species which I have seen (so far).
From the left, they are D. chryseopsis, D. aurea, D. suphurea, D. pardina,
D. punctata and today's D. semilunulata.
Click to enlarge image.
It is a larger file than normal.

To paraphrase the old political aphorism

the more they change, the more they stay the same.
Clearly quite different, but definitely all "Diuris".

Lyperanthus - both brown and yellow forms

Several days ago I received a phone call from a friend of mine, Jenny, from the Australian Plant Society - Southern Highlands Branch. She said she had seen an unusual Orchid near the Berrima Weir, and wanted to know if I was interested.
Was I?

Jenny sent me a photo taken by a friend of hers, and I was able to identify the plant as a yellow form of Lyperanthus suaveolens, known generally as "Brown Beaks". The yellow form is well documented, but it is apparently not common, except on the NSW North Coast.

We arranged to meet on Saturday afternoon, and Jenny took me along a track, to find the plants she had seen several days before.

Yellow form of Lyperanthus suaveolens

As she had seen them growing near some Diuris sulphurea, that helped us locate these yellow Lyperanthus, as the Donkey Orchids are really obvious.

Here is a cropped image of a single flower.
Well, not quite, but as the flowers grow closely together on a stem,
it is hard to separate them.
Click to enlarge the image.

The strongly pointed dorsal sepal
and the prominent downward curved labellum
are clearly visible when seen in profile.
***** ***** *****

Having found these yellow flowered forms of Lyperanthus, we decided to look around (it was a nice afternoon for a walk). I was actually hoping to find some "Caladenias" in flower, but there were none to be seen.

Anyway, we had only gone about another 200 metres when I spotted a bunch of the classic brown form of Lyperanthus suaveolens.

You can see the strong leaves of these two plants (growing side by side)

We were both tickled pink to have "completed the set".

This shot shows the front view and the more distinctive side-on view.

Front-on view of the brown form.
Here is a cropped image of the column and the warty-looking labellum.
The technical description is "labellum covered in small, sessile calli".
Here is the flower view in profile.
The dorsal sepal is narrowly hooded,
and distinctly upward sweeping.
Click to enlarge the image.

It seems this species is not "common" in the Southern Highlands. I have seen one, once before, several years after I moved to Robbo, but before I had a proper camera. Jenny had not seen this species for many years, and that was in the Heathcote area, apparently. Neither of us had seen the yellow form before.

All together a pleasant afternoon walk. It is always fun to find a new species, or at least an uncommon variant thereof.

Beard Orchids - two species.

Today I am posting two Beard Orchids, members of the Calochilus genus.
As a group they are really well named. No explanation of the name is required, unless one finds an aberrant form, with a naked labellum - but I am advised such naked forms are very uncommon.

The first is the relatively common local Purplish Beard Orchid, Calochilus robertsonii. There is another species around the Southern Highlands (sandstone soil areas), but I have not yet seen it this year. Calochilus paludosus the "Red Beard Orchid". It is known to flower later, right over the height of summer.
My Blogging colleague JL has recently seen this same species in Great Western, near The Grampians, in Victoria (not Scotland!)

This is my favourite image of this species. It shows the long "nose" which is the extended tip of the "column" - the cover for the pollinia of the Orchid. This image is taken in natural light, not with flash support. The colours are very reliable, therefore.
Here it is cropped, so you can see the details of the "long nose", which to me looks like a character likely to have been developed by Jim Henson, the creator of "The Muppets".

Click to enlarge image to see the details of the flower.

Here is another specimen, seen from low down and behind the flower to show the characteristic hooded shape of the dorsal sepal, and the very stiff, "flat" (not curved down) labellum. David Jones says it is "flat". Contrast this image with the botanical illustration on PlantNET.
Note the slightly dusty grey "bloom" on the entire plant.

This is a cropped version of the same image.

Here is a front-on view of the flower.
You can see the protruding tip of the column,
but it is less obvious than in the top image,
which is taken slightly from the side, to profile the protrusion.

The "sham eyes" are just visible. (Contrast that with the next species).
******

The second species is a first (for me). It is Calochilus campestris, (26.10.09 edited - from previously wrong Genus name. Ooops - Sorry. DJW) the so-called "Copper Beard Orchid". I saw this in the Royal National Park a week ago. It was growing with a group of Diuris aurea. These plants were growing beside the road in a sandstone heath area, on a ridge, about 3Km past the NPWS Visitor Centre at Audley.

Here is the head of the stem, showing a number of flowers and buds.
The colour is true, and as such it calls into question the usefulness of the "common names" used, red, purple, purplish, copper etc for the various species.

One has to go on shape of the flower, the dorsal sepal angle
and the details of the labellum and column.

Here is a flower stem.
It is quite tall, with a large number of pollinated flowers
(some ten flowers with swollen ovaries are visible).

Here is the first cropped image of the flower, from the side,
showing the shape and colour of the beard.
The hooded dorsal sepal is also evident.

A more direct view.
It highlights the protruding tip of the column
(which I tend to think of as the "nose" - but of course that is not right).
Here is a flower fully open, with all the details visible.
It is interesting that the upper "calli" the "beard hairs"
are dark purplish, but the lower ones are yellowish-green.
Those calli appear to be covered with a powdery, mealy substance.
The labellum is much wider and shorter than the previous species.
Here is my favourite image (of this species).
I have nick-named this image:
"Echidna face"

Here is proof that despite their apparent weird design,
these flowers are fully functional.

This flower has two large dobs of the creamy white pollinia
(from another flower)
which have been deposited by an insect on the column of this flower.
That's how their pollination system is meant to work.

Pink Sun Orchid - Thelymitra carnea

I have been promising to publish my Pink Sun Orchid (Thelymitra carnea) as my blogging colleagues in Victoria have been finding the related T. rubra. By all reports, their plants are taller, and probably darker - which is roughly the distinction between these two closely related species.

My plants are no more than 150mm tall (approx 6 inches). They are growing in shallow black soil, over a sandstone bedrock. It is in open grass beside a road verge, which is slashed routinely, as a fire break. They love this position and do not stray into the forested areas close by, it seems. This patch is the only place I know locally where these flowers are found.

These plants have either a single flower, or a flower and a spare bud. They are notoriously shy of flowering, so normally one sees closed buds.

The buds are recognisably those of this species, for they show the colour clearly enough.

Here is an open flower.

Another flower, cropped to see it close up.
That image, when cropped further gives this
charmingly detailed view of the
important reproductive parts of the flower.
Click to enlarge the image - if you dare!
Orchids are explicit flowers - they show you what they are about..
Now we need to look from the side, to see the column wing details
Unlike the blue Sun Orchids I have seen this year,
this plant has no "brushes" on the column arms,
Instead, there is simply an extension of the hard, yellow waxy top
of the column.
This plant has just a faint red mark behind the column top.
Contrast that with JL's image (linked).
From the other side, you can clearly see how the yellow column arms
protrude to protect the column itself.
These small Pink Sun Orchids are worth waiting for.
But you must go out on a hot day to see them open
from about 11 AM to 3 PM.

WEATHER UPDATE

In case anyone is wondering what is behind the foregoing comment, this is the view from my back deck on Sunday afternoon. Robertson has remembered how to rain and to have fog in the middle of the afternoon. This weather is NOT SUITABLE for Sun Orchids to open. And that probably explains why so many of that genus are reported to be self-pollinating.

Purple Diuris - Diuris punctata.

This is one of my favourite Orchids - the Purple Diuris, Diuris punctata.

I do not know why this plant is named "punctata" (which means spotted)
for as far as I can tell, they are normally quite plain flowers.
Perhaps the original specimen had some spots,
but compared to most other Diuris species, this one is very plain.
There is a tiny flower spider on the lower lip of the labellum.
That is a common occurrence with Ground Orchids.
(Click to enlarge)

My Blogging colleagues Gouldiae and Duncan have both posted images of this species in Gippsland over the last few days. Interesting how our seasons have all come into "synch" recently. In winter and early spring, their flowering seasons there are often ahead of mine, up here - presumably a delaying effect of my higher altitude (approx 700 metres) offsetting any seasonal advantage one would assume of my more northerly (lower) latitude. At the moment we are pretty much on a par with Orchids in Gippsland and the Grampians.

The lateral sepals protrude a long way below the labellum,
and give these plants their other name of "Purple Double-tails".
they are very long, and make this flower seem smaller than other Diuris.
Because the tails are so long, I have to capture a larger image
and then scale it down to make it fit a standard image size of 1000 pixels.You can see what I mean by this image
It shows all five species of Diuris I have published this spring.
D. punctata (on the for end) looks small, but it isn't.
Click to enlarge this image - it is a larger than standard file.
From the left these are Diuris chryseopsis, D. aurea, D. pardina, D. sulphurea and today's D. punctata.

Here is another fresh flower, darker than the first one.

This Purple Diuris is just starting at flower at the only place where I know it lives. I have heard of others, further south on the very southern end of the Sandstone plateau, which have apparently been in flower for some time. That's what I have heard, anyway.

This is the centre of the flower only - the Dorsal sepal (the rear part),
and the labellum, which is very distinctly pleated
with a strong ridge down the middle.
The white column is clearly visible in the middle of the flower.
It has tiny white arms circling above the column, different from D. aurea.
The minute differences between these various species are very noticeable
if you compare the various flowers in detail.

Colin Rowan has posted lots of photos of this species on his Retired Aussies site. Here is the link to the front page of his site, which you can use to look for other species, or to "bookmark" for future reference. It is a site which I use all the time, for reference, as does JL, in Great Western, on the edge of the Grampians, in western Victoria.

Yellow "Donkey Orchids" - two species

Here are two species of Diuris, the popularly named Donkey Orchids. I have another one to come - a mauve Diuris - which I will publish in the next few days.

Basically, one is spotted on top of the dorsal sepal (the hood covering the centre of the flower) and it has plain yellow "ears" (the petals). The other is more or less golden, with few markings. Its dorsal sepal is very rounded, and the labellum is very deeply pleated (folded) leaving a very prominent ridge. Both have prominent, raised petals, known as "ears" - earning them the nick-name of Donkey Orchids.

The first one is Diuris sulphurea, known as the "Tiger Orchid" or the "Hornet Orchid". My Aussie Nature Blogging colleague, Gouldiae, in Gippsland, published an images of this same species yesterday. It is a wide-spread species. These plants are very common on shallow "black soil" over sandstone of Kangaloon, along the slashed fire-break beside Tourist Road.

Here is a high shot of the full flower head.

The Petals ("Ears") are swept back.
They are plain yellow on both sides
(unlike D. pardina I showed 10 days ago).

Here it is seen from the side view.
One of the two spots on the dorsal sepal is clearly visible.
The matching "dot" is on the other side, of course.
The stalks of the petals are relatively long and dark brown
(below where the petal "ear" becomes yellow).

This view shows the column deep within the flower.
The dorsal sepal is ridged.Click to see the full detail of the flower.
The flat plate inside is the front of the "column"
The dorsal sepals are slightly crossed in this specimen.

The second plant is one I saw in the Royal National Park, last week, in a sandstone heath area, approximately 3 Km past Audley Weir and the NPWS Office there. This species is Diuris aurea - one I have never seen before.

This image shows the labellum with a prominent ridge down the middle.
The rest of the flower is relatively plain.
So it is basically a yellow flower,
but it has prominent ears, which are more or less upright,
unlike the plain yellow Diuris chryseopsis I showed 11 days ago.

Here is the full view of the flower.
The dorsal sepals (the two bits below the flower)
are green, and not crossed over.
You can see that the labellum has two callus ridges,
beyond the main folded pleat in the labellum. They are outlined in brown.

In this image, which is taken from a slightly lower angle,
you can clearly see two small wings beside the column.
They are sticking upwards like two little hands.This is a cropped image of the labellum and the column.
You can see how the dorsal sepal is rounded,
(like an old-fashioned "bonnet" style of hat).

Here is a shot of the full head of flowers.

Paralysis Tick - a danger to local dogs

A friend of mine has saved the life of one of a set of puppies by noticing and then removing this Tick from the puppy's face. It is an Australian Paralysis Tick (Ixodes holocyclus).

The Paralysis Tick removed from the puppy.
It is a female - rated as semi-engorged.
They do get much larger than this one,
if they are not discovered for a few more days.

As I write this, the word from the Vet is that the Puppy is doing well enough, in recovery, but it is still on a drip. Lets hope it recovers well.

For further scientific discussion of the effects of ticks on animals, please check this link.

Paralysis Tick - female semi-engorged.
Underneath view.

This incident hopefully will serve as a timely reminder that even in the cool, mountainous climate of Robertson, ticks are a threat, especially to dogs and small animals. This is especially true if your property is close to the Illawarra Escarpment, it seems. Global warming might also be causing an expansion of the range of these creatures, into areas where they have not been a problem before.

There is a theory that Echidnas might be a vector (carrier) of the Paralysis Tick. It so happens that I saw an Echidna on my friend's property on the weekend. Below are some photos of an Echidna which I saw last year beside the Illawarra Highway, immediately below the property known as "Ocean View". It is immediately above the top of Macquarie Pass. This is about 5 Km east of Robertson. This Echidna had a very enlarged tick clearly visible on its neck. I have often seen large Ticks on Echidnas, which seem not to be troubled by their poison. Such occurrences are common, and it seems Echidnas have evolved in conjunction with ticks, and presumably are immune to their paralysing poison. But they may well aid in the spread of ticks to other animals.
To find out more about Paralysis Ticks in New South Wales please click on this linked page. There is also some discussion of the supposed connections between Ticks and Lymes Disease or other diseases which cause problems for humans. For more information, please go to this linked page from Westmead Hospital.

Adverse reactions to tick bites on humans can range from localised irritation, to a more severe condition known as "Scrub-itch" (usually associated with numerous tick bites of tiny juvenile ticks - often as many as 50 or more, especially if one has been working in the scrub, eg, clearing Lantana or other dense bushes), and severe allergic reactions, though to toxic shock (anaphylaxis). More serious conditions such as "Queensland Tick Typhus" are also discussed on this site.

Stegostyla moscata - Musky Finger Orchid

Several days ago I found these plants growing beside Kirkland Road, Kangaloon.
Unfortunately, yesterday (Monday 19 October 2009) the ever-so helpful road workers from the Wingecarribee Shire used their graders, bobcats and sweepers to clear the road verge of all signs of life. No doubt, with bushfire season approaching, they had their reasons, but I keep asking why do this kind of work now, and not in mid winter? Orchids such as these plants are not "fuel" to sustain a bushfire. Firstly, they are moist plants, not dry, combustible material. Secondly, they are within a forest of highly combustible material, so this is merely "window dressing" by Council - the pretence of fire prevention. As I said it could have been done in Winter, when the damage they have now caused would be minimised, but removal of dry leaf litter woud have been achieved. When will they ever learn? I shall be writing to Council to point out the inadvertent damage they have caused.These plants have now been killed. At least I found them when they were in flower. However, the Sun Orchids which were budding up beautifully on Saturday morning have all now "gone to God", as the saying is. What an ignorant act by Council!This plant is now known as Stegostyla moscata. It is also known as the Musky Finger Orchid. It has apparently recently been separated from the very similar looking Stegostyla gracilis, which is now regarded as restricted to Tasmania and Victoria (to the N-E). My source for this is David Jones recent book "Field Guide to the Orchids of the ACT" (2008).
My blogging colleague JL has recently published photos of the similar, but darker marked flowers of Stegostyla cucullata. Those plants have been photographed in the Grampians, in western Victoria. My plant's labellum tip is clearly bright magenta purple, whereas JL's plant has a dark purple labellum tip.

This image is taken from very low down, to see up into the column.
Click to enlarge image.

Here is another plant which I found in late September, in Kangaloon. I believe it to be the same species, but in view of the uncertainty of namings and the lack of good reference material, I cannot be absolutely sure. The angle of this photo is more horizontal than the previous image, so you are seeing higher up along the labellum. This image does show the 4 lines of "clubs" (glands) on the labellum.
These images show these plants against the dry leaf litter on the forest floor. As you can see this part of the forest floor is covered with highly combustible materials, which is all still there, as the road cleaning took place only on the road verge, where the other plants were growing.

Two flowers on a 25mm long stem.

This plant has three flowers.

It is always worthwhile keeping your eyes open when walking through dry Eucalypt forests. Orchids love to grow there (especially in spring), but they are often far from obvious. But they are truly lovely things. If you do find them - have a close look inside the flowers.

Petalochilus mentiens (Lesser Fingers Orchid)

On Saturday morning I went to the Tourist Road area (in Kangaloon), to check what Orchids had come into flower while I had been away, in Sydney, doing some birdwatching, with fellow Aussie Nature Bloggers, Mark Young and Chai.

Anyway, to my delight I saw a tiny pink "Finger Orchid" which I had never seen before.

When I say tiny, I mean, really tiny.

This tiny image is approximately life size.
Check your left hand little fingernail against mine to check image size.
then look at the flower again. That is how small it is.

I rang Alan Stephenson to ask his advice and he suggested that I check the ID against Petalochilus mentiens and Petalochilus pusillus. I did that, as best I could, as the reference texts, and the internet are not all up to date.
P. mentiens is recorded by David Jones in his "Complete guide..." as being found in NSW (north to Nowra), ACT, Vic and Tasmania. Jones says P. pusillus is found only in Tasmania and S.A. The main difference I could find between these descriptions is that the lateral sepals of P. pusillus are often fused (not separate "fingers"). But then I found an image by Mark Clements (CSIRO), which gives the locality of his flower as Bowral, NSW - just up the road from Kangaloon. His image is so close in colour, hairiness, and form to my plant, that, in conjunction with the distribution notes from the Jones book, I have gone with these plants as being Petalochilus mentiens.

Interestingly, my blogging colleague "JL" on the Fungi of Great Western has posted about Petalochilus pusillus, which she has found in the Grampians, just a few days ago. So these tiny Finger orchids are both following the same seasonal cycle (several weeks after Pet. fuscatus). Have a look. Her plant has the fused sepals referred to by David Jones as typical of that species.

Here is a side-on view of the first flower I found. Its dorsal sepal is very closely hooded, but the books say it is a Petalochilus, not a Stegostyla (the new name for the hooded "Caladenias").

Note how extremely hairy the plant is - on the stem and the flower.

Obviously these images are taken with my Macro lens.
Click to view full detail of flower.

Here is another plant located today - with similar features.
I subsequently found others with more erect dorsal sepals.
In fact, I found about 50 of these flowers over about 300 metres
of roadside verge. Amazing that I had never seen them before.
Then again, they are tiny little flowers.

Another view from the front, with a 10 cent coin (Aussie) for scale.
(I acknowledge that Colin of "Retired Aussies" website
uses this system of using coins for scale - it's not my idea.)
Another plant with erect dorsal sepal, seen from the rear/side.
Note the dark red stripe down the rear of the dorsal sepal,
which extends right down the ovary below the flower.
Here is a close-up view of the column of the flower (from a low angle).
This particular flower has one petal not quite fully opened.
You can see the yellow pollinia inside the apex (tip) of the column.
The labellum has strongly coloured yellow "clubs", and the tip of the labellum is also yellow, but paler, and is curved down and under.
(remember this image is taken from very low down).Here is a silhouette image of the leaf and stem.
It is of one of the flowers photographed on Saturday.
This tends to confirm the comment that the flowers only open very briefly.
This image is taken against a piece of paper,
which I was using to record detailed notes of the size of the plant.
Click to enlarge to see details.
Here is a normal view of the leaf, against my finger, and the stem.
Both are labelled, to clarify the issue.

Dimensions of the plant.
I measured two flowers, and their sizes were:
Plant A (with erect dorsal sepal)
Height of flower stem (ground to top of flower) 7o mm
Flower width (total) 8mm
Flower depth (top to base) 8.5mm
Leaf 55mm high, X 1.8mm wide (hairy).

Plant B (with hooded dorsal sepal)
Height of flower stem (ground to top of flower) 80 mm
Flower width (total) 11mm (the largest flower of this species I saw)
Flower depth (top to base) 10mm
Lateral sepals 6mm long
Dorsal Sepal 6mm long

I am pleased to note that I have found (and linked above) an image of Petalochilus mentiens published by Andrew Paget, on his Flickr Album "Wildwood Flora" photostream. That is the only (other) named image of this plant which I can find with a Google image search.

Another Donkey Orchid (Diuris) - as promised.

Several weeks ago, when I was returning from Canberra, on 19 September, I stopped for a short while, in Goulburn to have a look at "Governor's Hill" to look for Orchids. Such stops help me to stay alert when travelling on the boring Highway trip, from Canberra to Robertson. Anyway, such a stop is a good excuse for me to go Orchid hunting. Its even better when you find lots of Orchids within 20 metres of the road!

I found a large number of Glossodia major plants in flower, just growing among the heath shrubbery on this rocky hillside, immediately above a cutting on the road leading into Goulburn (from the Marulan end). That was good, as I wanted to publish a post on Glossodias to complete a set of photos of Glossodias which I had taken on Black Mountain, in Canberra.

But I also found many of these plants of Donkey Orchids, which I had not ever seen before. Note how different they are from yesterday's post about D. chryseopsis. Yet they are both in the same genus.
I knew straight away that they were new to me, but which species?
That has taken me a lot longer than anticipated to resolve. It was not that hard, but more a question of being organised enough to find all my reference books, once I returned to Robertson after being away for several weeks.
I am now prepared to assert that this is Diuris pardina - the "Leopard Orchid". The name "pardina" simply means "spotted" - as in "leopard" (leo-pard which literally means a spotted lion).
There are significant differences amongst these plants. Firstly I noticed that some had green stems and some had dark stems, nearly black. Is that difference significant? I do not know.

Look at the size of the labellum wings (left and right of the column, with the white spot - which is in the centre of the flower). In these two close-up photos (above) you can compare the details. One has labellum wings twice the size of the other plant. Then, again, one has two dark spots (one on each side wing). The other is light, with fine dark lines etched on the wings. Quite different details. Are those differences significant? I do not know.

David Jones, in his main reference text says of D. pardina: "exhibits considerable variation in floral colour patterns". That is fine by me, yet in many cases, David Jones is quite dogmatic in using small details to declare some plants to be different species from others. That's also fine. It just makes it very hard for the amateur to work out precisely what one is looking at.

This is an old flower, but it is useful as it shows that the front of the "Donkey ears" (petals) is plain sulphur yellow, but the backs of the petals (the reverse sides) are heavily spotted. That is a feature which Jones mentions as being typical of D. pardina. Some success at last.
That photo above also shows how the lateral sepals of these plants are heavily deflexed, recurved, and crossed. Classic pardina features. Another point of identification. For an even more extreme example, look at the second photo above (the first close-up image). Look at its lateral sepals close-set, and crossed and almost horizontal. Quite extreme angle setting of the sepals, but typical of D. pardina. Note that the third photo (second close-up) has lateral sepals which are straight, and pointed down, without crossing. Do we put that down to individual variation? I guess so.

I like this image, as it shows the front of one flower, and the rear view of another. There is also a third flower - a bud - partially blocking the view, unfortunately. But in the top right of the image there is a clear view of the rear of the "petal" (Donkey's ear). See how that rear of the petal is spotted, whereas the front of the petals on the lower flower is clearly plain. These flowers are all on the one stem of the one plant. So these flowers will be genetically identical (or as close to it as possible). Therefore, this confirms the point made above about the front and rear colours of the flowers being different - the rear part being heavily spotted.
These plants were flowering prolifically, three weeks ago, in Goulburn.

That is nice, as Goulburn has suffered terribly in recent years, from severe drought, but this year's spring has been good for them. More rain than Robertson has had, which is something Goulburn can seldom claim. I am happy for them to have a good season. The people of Goulburn, and especially the farmers, need it.
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Diuris chryseopsis (Common Golden Moth Orchid)

At last some of the puzzling pure yellow "Donkey Orchids". My blogging colleague "Junior Lepid" has been teasing me with the plants in the Grampians, including several Donkey Orchids which I have not seen.

So, I am pleased to be able to return the compliment, by showing a new species (for me) - Diuris chryseopsis, as far as I can tell (that's why I refer to them as "puzzling").
I was shown these flowers today, at Mount Rae, between Taralga and Crookwell, in the Southern Tablelands of NSW, about half an hour's drive north-east of Goulburn (1.5 hours driving time south from Robertson).

(Click to enlarge to see detail of the flower).

The forests of Mt. Rae are very different from Robertson. Mostly dense Eucalypt forest, with native tussock grasses, but relatively little understory shrubbery. It is a rare type of bush known as Basalt Tableland Forest. It is good country for Grey Kangaroos, Red-necked and Swamp Wallabies and Euros. More to my particular interest, however was the wonderful massed display of "wildflowers" on these hillsides, especially the Orchids.

Today I shall show you only the Orchids. I need to do some research on the other species I photographed, today.

Orchid seen from the rear - note the stripes.

It was drizzling today, and the flowers were wet.
But you can see how these flowers hold themselves in a flat manner,
instead of the more vertical form of the more common Donkey Orchids.
This earns this plant the name "Small Snake Orchid".
They look as if they are poised to "strike".

These plants are also known as "Common Golden Moth Orchids". Not sure why, except that they could (possibly) be interpreted as golden moths flying amongst the grasses.

This amazing display of these Orchids shows how prolifically these plants grow in some areas at Mt Rae. The soil was heavy clay, in a cleared paddock, on a slope.
This was completely amazing for me. It well and truly justified my journey - even on a damp day.

Thanks to the remarkably dedicated Mark Selmes for showing me these plants.

Lets hope that Mark can secure Mount Rae's forests from irresponsible logging of Australia's precious native forests.

In my view it is very important for Governments and bureaucrats and policy makers to understand that trees are not just "fuel" - they are habitat for plants and animals as well as holding together our precious, delicate and ancient soils; catching rain, and making Australia what it is.

If we destroy this Mt Rae forest (or others from one end of Australia to the other) then Australia will lose its distinctive and precious wildlife, (and wildflowers like these Orchids) as well as lose its precious identity.

Helicia glabrifolia - in Robertson

Helicia glabriflora is yet another plant which has its southern-most range in the Illawarra. In fact, this tree is reported to be the most southerly member of the species - growing here by itself here in Robertson. A loner.

I photographed this tree when in flower, in February last year, which is more or less its normal time, it seems. But when I was checking Tangle-root Orchids the other day, I noticed that this tree was in flower - which surprised me, as I remember it as flowering in high summer, normally.

It also has some fruit on it, which are not yet ripe, as they turn bright blue when ripe. But the fact that it successfully set fruit last year is encouraging.

This plant is in the Proteaceae tribe, but it does not look at all like its normal southern relatives. It is a rainforest tree and in Robertson is hard to distinguish from the neighbouring Sassafras trees, which have similarly bright green, shiny leaves. Its flowers (inflorescences) look nothing like the Waratahs or Grevilleas which we tend to think of as "typical Proteaceae" plants. But in truth, there is no such thing.

Here are the unopened buds on a flowering stem (inflorescence).

In fact the flowers and fruit of the Helicia most closely resemble (in structure) the Persoonia family. Many members of the Proteaceae tribe are tropical plants, which look very different from our most familiar members of the tribe. If you remember that the nut-bearing plant, the Macadamia, is a tropical Proteaceae plant, that will give you some idea of the diversity of this tribe of plants.

Opened flowers on the full inflorescence (stem)
Compare this with the photo of the Macadamia

Here are two (paired) flowers arising beside eachother on the flower stem.
This is typical of many members of the Grevilleoideae.
I have shown this same feature in Grevillea flowers

This pair of flowers has pollen dusted onto their Stigmas.
These plants use the Stigma, (the female part of the flower) to act as
the "pollen presenter" as in this case. The pollen is ready to be picked up by a bird or an insect, to be taken to another flower.

Here is a single flower (removed from its paired flower - to simplify the image). The outer skin of the perianth (seen fully closed in the bud image at top) splits, as the flower matures, and the perianth segments (tepals) roll back, down along the stem. This is referred to as being "revolute".

"Perianth tubular; tepals revolute at anthesis." (PlantNET)

After maturing, the tepals drop off the flower, leaving only the style (which had the stigma at its tip, and leads down to the Ovary at the base). In this case, you can see the ovaries of these flowers are starting to develop. They are the orange-cloured swellings at the base of each style.Here is an unripened fruit (still green, not blue). But you can see the "persistent style" protruding below the fruit (on the right). The fruit is, of course, developing where the "ovary" (the orange swelling - above) is located in the original flower.This fruit, with the style protruding, looks very similar to a Persoonia fruit.

Wonga Pigeon plays Peek-a-Boo

I have many Wonga Pigeons (Leucosarcia melanoleuca) which live around my house. How many? No idea. But I hear them regularly, going "whoop......, whoop......, whoop......, whoop" outside, in the forest. Of course, this is misleading, as their calls travel so far, and so my assessment is likely to overstate their numbers.

However, I seldom actually see them around my house. If I do, it is to see a grey shape disappearing into the bush.

I have published some photos of Wonga Pigeons walking around at my friend George's place. But George feeds birds, and that helps build the birds' confidence near people.

What a fine specimen!
Seen posing at George's bird bath.

In my yard, the Wongas behave as in Nature, finding their own food as they can. So, today I was surprised to look out my Study window and see a Wonga Pigeon feeding below me, just a few metres away. I quietly went and grabbed my camera, to try to get a photo of the bird.

Instinctively it seemed to know exactly what I was wanting, and began a game of "Peek-a-Boo" with me.

Grey body blends with the ground colouring.
White top of the head is just (barely) visible.
(click to enlarge)

Every time I raised the camera lens, the bird managed to get some leaves or a branch between me and its eye.

You can clearly see the white patches of its chest and belly.
But the head is hidden - again.
Peek-a-Boo.

In general, ground feeding birds like Pigeons and Wading Birds such as Snipe, which tend to be fleshy birds, are hunted by people as Game Birds. But in an evolutionary sense, this is a new phenomenon. But they have evolved to be alert to danger from natural predators - be they Birds of Prey (Falcons), or cats, dogs and foxes. The position of their eyes on the side of their head, means they have something like 300 degree of vision. It gives them very little "binocular vision" (just in front of the beak - that's all they need). For the rest of their range of sight ("field of vision"), each eye operates individually, to pick up movement - the sign of a potential threat. That's also all they need. One sign of danger and your Wonga is "off".

At last, the eye is visible.
The bird is feeding, facing down and away from me,
But it can still watch me - in the house, 5 metres away.
I love good design in Nature.
If it works to protect this bird - that fine by me.

Wongas are generally nervous birds, as they are vulnerable to attack - by predators. Being so large, they take a long time to get off the ground. Their flapping is noisy, and clearly rising from the ground uses a lot of energy. (Once flying, they fly very powerfully) But they are in fact reluctant to fly - they walk away from "trouble".
Given that strategy, they need to be well and truly aware of potential danger - to allow them time to walk away from danger. So, for a Wonga Pigeon alertness means survival.

As soon as I walked out onto the rear deck, to get a clear view of the bird, it walked away, past my Camellias and out of sight. It did not fly away - it did not need to.

Survival of the fittest, using the sharp motion-detecting vision (300 degree range), and conserving energy.
You have to admire Nature at work. At least, I do.

Tangle-root Orchid - edited

EDITED - THE NEXT DAY
As I was not satisfied with the photos in yesterday's post, I have added new images which I took today, back out in the bush, when it was less windy.

*****

This is my first post about the Tangle-root Orchid (Plectorrhiza tridentata) I may have mentioned it incidentally before, but I have never had close-up photos before. My fellow Aussie Nature Blogger, Gaye, has written about this Orchid when she found it in the Barrington Tops.

This is an uncommon Orchid up here on top of the Illawarra Escarpment. I had seen one plant here, before, just on the edge of the Robertson basalt caps, but on the lower edges there-of.

Tangle-root Orchid is well named.
This plant is hanging by a single thread of root
suspended from the ferns on the tree branch above it.
Its ball of roots is about the size of a football - but very light.
This plant has only about 7 leaves,
but it is carrying about 12 flowers.
These flowers are clearly honey coloured.

Here is a cropped image,
showing the same plant - just its leaves and flowers
This plant was about 5 metres high.
The flowers are small and hard to see.

Some time ago I was told by Graeme Bradburn of ANOS about another place in my local area (a place with which I was familiar) where he said these Orchids were to be found. Sure enough, after seeing that the one plant I knew about was in flower, I tried the place Graeme had suggested - and there they were.

This was the best image I could obtain, with a zoom lens.
It clearly shows the long spur behind the labellum.
(in this angle it is "above", but structurally, it is behind the labellum)

A closer view of spray of flowers.
Some insect eggs on the leaf at lower end.
Same species, but these ones are green not honey-coloured.

See new image below - which is clearer.
Click to enlarge)

*****
This is one flower very close-up, from the side.
Note how there is a long tube ("spur") behind the labellum.
The dorsal sepal and lateral petals closely shield the column.
(Photo replaced 10.10.09)

Here is a flower, as seen from above.
The white and yellow parts are the labellum, spread widely.
The green "hood" is the dorsal sepal.
The protective "arms' are the petals.
Here is the flower seen from directly in front,
but seen from low down to look into the "column"
The "spur" is just visible, below the flower.
Here is a similar view taken today.
You can see the column which is so well protected by the dorsal sepal.

Finally, here is another shot, taken with natural light.
The flower is merely 5mm wide and deep.
The spur behind is probably about 1 cm long.

The Tangle-root Orchid has a delicious sweet perfume, but on a cold, windy day like today, it was barely noticeable. On a warm day, no doubt it would drive the insects crazy with desire.

My favourite image.

It shows the left hand flower as seen from the front.
The "Gravy-ladle shaped" labellum (wider than deep) is clearly visible.
On the right it shows the side view perfectly.
Note the closely hooded green dorsal sepal and side petals
and the long white and purple "spur" behind the labellum.

Tree Peonies starting.

For those of you who know of my Blog as the Nature of Robertson, this blog will begin to explain the quirky name within the URL: "peonyden"

Yesterday, the very first of my Japanese Tree Peonies bloomed. These plants have had a tough time since I moved them to Robertson as tiny plants (mostly offsets from parent plants, as that is all I could afford).

This is "Shimane Hakugan".

Most of the other Tree Peonies are still alive, but some have thrived and some not. Some have been out-competed by the weeds, and are barely alive, dare I say it. Anyway, I have long since given up fretting about the troubles they have experienced.

This is what I like to refer to as the "eye" of the Tree Peony flower.
It is of course, the "sheath" surrounding the carpels.
The stigmas are exposed but only at the tips.
The golden anthers are spectacular.
They contrast with the white petals and the dark maroon carpels.
Click to enlarge the image.

These plants are so stunningly beautiful that I am simply grateful for any flowers they offer me.

This next one is the very different plant called "Good Lady". It was bred by Dr Bernard Chow, in Melbourne. Its bud is just showing colour, and will be open in a few days, if the weather is kind to me. This link will take you to one of my earliest photos of this plant in flower, as published very kindly by Anni Heino. The open flower is a lovely soft dusty rose pink. This plant is one of Dr Chow's advanced generation hybrids.The foliage on this plant is very strong, and is quite broad, unlike many of the Saunders Hybrids, (American Hybrid Tree Peonies) which tend to be much finer in the leaves.

The beading of fresh rain drops looks lovely.

Here is Chinese Dragon, one of Professor Saunders very earliest hybrids.

You can see both the finer leaves, and also their distinctive reddish colouring. The bright red flower is very pleasant. This flower seemingly came from P. delavayi but it was regarded (at the time) as a variant of P. lutea (for reasons not supported by modern taxonomists). So, Chinese Dragon and all of Saunders other hybrid Tree Peonies were regarded as "lutea hybrids" - a total misnomer. "American Hybrid TPs" or the simpler "Saunders Hybrid TPs" is a better name for this plant and its relatives.

The ground cover plant with the green leaves, is a native Geranium.
This plant was nearly destroyed three years ago by devastating winds, when the plant was heavily in bud.

Bird Orchids - September 2009

Unbelievable as it seems (to me) I nearly missed the flowering of the Bird Orchids, this year. Goodness. How could I be so careless?

For some reason I had not recorded their normal flowering period in my calendar. So I found these particular plants (which I had not ever found before) as part of a general search for other Orchids.

I mean to say, I know that Bird Orchids live in this area, but I have clearly fixed in my mind the best spots to look for them - and this spot was not on my mental list.

I was checking for possible Greenhood flowers (of which there were none). So I was quite disappointed, and tired and despondent (as one gets at the end of a long and futile search). Suddenly, just before I was about to go back to the car, I found this.

It is a Bird Orchid, in flower, on the ground, beside a dead stick.

Better check around further, Denis.
OK - I now see more Orchids - all around me.Lets have a closer look at them.
This one has a bud, about to open.
Here is an open flower - which had clearly been open when the big dust storm blew through the entire region, on Wednesday 23 September 2009. I saw the flower on the Sunday.
You can clearly see the coating of fine red dust - even inside the flower..
Here is the same flower - shot from a very low angle. You can see the pollinia in position still, in the column.
Looking down into the flower.
You can see the large glands on the labellum.
Some are green, others red.
Their shapes are different, too.
The front one is oval and quite flow in profile.
The rear (lower) ones are narrow and upright.



This next plant is closing its flower.
Presumably it has been pollinated.
This is the normal position for the flowers of this family of Orchids to adopt, after pollination.
It serves to protect the flower, as it starts to develop the seeds.
Once pollination has been achieved, the stem of this flower will grow much higher than it currently is.
It will do this, in order to help spread the
fine dust-like seeds as far as possible, on the wind.






There will be an observation test regarding this image.

Did you see it?





What?









The Frog spawn.







Look in in the junction of the leaves and the stem of the Orchid.

When I was out there, the country was so dry that the moss on the shallow rocks was crunching under my feet. I could hear it happen as I walked around. So, an enterprising frog (well a pair of them as you will realise) have deposited their "spawn" in this situation, in order to prevent their spawn from being dried out on the dry rocks, or loose sandy soil. This is a strategy reminiscent of those tiny frogs in the tall tropical rainforest which live within those cup-shaped Bromeliad plants.

It has been raining in Robertson for two days now, so the puddles on the Budderoo Plateau will be full again, now. But, last week, while it was still dry, this pair of frogs avoided laying their "spawn" on dry materials (dry moss and lichen, or sandy soil). Those frogs have given their offspring just a chance of surviving that crucial first week after being laid.

Interesting. I have never seen this adaptive behaviour before.

Grass Trees on the cliff tops.

I recently wrote about what I referred to as an uncommon Grass Tree in the Robertson area. Well, a few days ago, I stumbled across a bunch of these plants, living in a highly specific environment, right on tops of the rocky cliff edges of the Upper Kangaroo Valley, near Carrington Falls. This is less than 2 kilometres from Robertson, in a direct line, but some 15 kms away by road, as one has to detour around the edge of the Upper Kangaroo Valley, past Carrington Falls, to get here.

This plant is, I believe, Xanthorrhoea australis

Their habitat of choice is an unbelievably harsh environment, right on the cliff top, exposed to all the extremes of wind which Mother nature can (and did) throw at these plants. You can see the wind whipping the leaves of this plant around, as part of the gale force winds blowing on Sunday, 27 September. Not only was the Grass Tree being whipped around, so were both my friend Jim, and I buffeted around. Fortunately, the wind was coming from up out of the Valley, and so did not threaten to blow us off the cliff - or else there is no way I would have taken this photograph.

The noise of the wind, on the cliff tops was extraordinary - reminiscence of the bad old days of Boeing 707s taking off at old airports, prior to the introduction of noise dampening. It was unbearable being on that cliff top, exposed to that noise of the wind, for more than a few moments.

Here is an amazingly large full Grass Tree plant, with flowering scape (the hard wooden stem of the flowering part) and the flower spike (with a dense mat of fibrous material, and including the flowers). In this case the flowers have finished, but not yet dispersed their seeds.
My friend Jim is posing beside the plant (barely able to reach over the huge tuft of leaves, to grasp the flowering scape, as I had requested him to, for "scale" - in order to show the true dimensions of the entire plant - the leaves, scape and flower spike. The spike curves up into the air, and it is at least four times as high as Jim, at its tip.

This is the tuft of leaves of this plant.
Look above to see, when Jim was standing there, how large this leaf tuft is.
Here is my gloved hand, for scale, shown against the "scape"
That is the hard woody part of the flowering stem.
I shall show another species of Grass Tree in a few days time,
for comparison of the thickness (or narrowness) of its scape.

And here, seen from below, is the entire flowering stem
the "scape" and the "spike".

The previous Grass Tree about which I wrote was the same species, I believe, but a juvenile plant, with no "trunk" - the woody part below the tuft of leaves.

These are very slow growing plants and such a large plant as this one might well be over 100 years of age.