Orchids start earlier in Kangaroo Valley than Robbo

The orchids of Cambewarra Mountain and Kangaroo Valley are starting up. These plants flower about a month earlier than the same species, up on the Robertson Plateau. Some of these plants are nearly as high (in altitude) as Robertson. But Kangaroo Valley is in a "lens" and captures the sun and heats up. And Cambewarra Mountain is exposed to the milder coastal weather. So, either or both of those factors might explain what is going on here.

Sarcochilus falcatus - the Orange-blossom Orchid.
These are at Cambewarra Mountain.

Sarcochilus falcatus - the Orange-blossom Orchid.

Sarcochilus falcatus - the Orange-blossom Orchid.
Growing on the side of a Blackwood Wattle.

Dagger orchid clump clinging to the bark, and Rock Felt Ferns
Dockrillia pugioniformis

Dagger Orchid - as close as I can get to them.
Dockrillia pugioniformis

These Prasophyllum brevilabre were doing very well, in an area down in the lower end of the Kangaroo Valley where there had been a "burn-off" the previous season.

This accords with the reputation of many of these Leek Orchids as benefitting from  a burn-off. Given that I had just come from seeing a related plant (below) which was barely able to hold its flower stem together, I was impressed with how well these plants were doing. It tends to confirm the "do well after a fire" theory.

  

Prasophyllum brevilabreShort-lipped Leek orchid

Prasophyllum brevilabreShort-lipped Leek orchid

Prasophyllum brevilabreShort-lipped Leek orchid

These tall Leek Orchids were in very bad condition, reflecting the obvious dry season we are having here (south from Sydney). This plant stem had grown then snapped over. Others had shrivelled without opening any flowers. The only healthy plants I saw were several "smart" ones which had not attempted to flower. They were doing OK.

Prasophyllum elatum
Tall Leek Orchid

One thing to note, the Epiphytic Orchids of Upper Kangaroo Valley are not yet in flower. That includes the same species as here - Sarcochilus falcatus, and also the Dockrillia linguiformis

Quiet times inside the Robertson Nature Reserve

Yesterday afternoon I took a half-hour (or so) to capture some images within the Robertson Nature Reserve, as the light was favourable.

Lovely shafts of bright light penetrate the dense Rainforest Canopy, in places, and then might illuminate just one feature, such as a clump of moss growing on a vine, heading up through the trees. 

Moss on Vine stem, illuminated by a shaft of light

When a single shaft of light illuminates an otherwise seemingly insignificant feature on Nature, like this, you can then realise how beautiful the entire Reserve is, IF ONLY WE COULD ALL LEARN TO APPRECIATE ITS FEATURES.

Entrance to the Robertson Nature Reserve

One of the useful explanatory signs

To the best of my knowledge, this is the first report of
the Tangle Orchid, (Plectorrhiza tridentata) growing in the Robertson Nature Reserve,
although it is reported elsewhere in the district.
It is classed as a "Twig Epiphyte"
usually growing on small branches or low to medium shrubs.

Defying Gravity?
Here you can see it hanging from its roots
which have grown into the bark of the tree above.
These flimsy attachments are in fact quite sturdy

and their flexibility gives them surprising resilience.

Defying Gravity?
Tangle-root Orchid (Plectorrhiza tridentata)

Open ground, covered with ferns.

Young vines scrambling up towards the light

The dark brown, fibrous Tree Fern trunk, embedded in the trunk of the Possumwood is all that remains to reveal the origins of the Possumwood. 

A Tree Fern trunk once formed a "seed bed" for a seedling of a Possumwood.

Quintinia sieberi
The Possumwood roots then grew down to the ground and having arrived at a rich nutrient source, then grow strong, and eventually took over and out-competed the Tree Fern.

The Possumwood bark is distinctively knobbly and is a blue-green colour.
That distinctive colour comes from algae which like to grow on certain rainforest tree trunks.

Dark brown trunk of a dead Tree Fern
reveals the origins of the Possumwood Tree.

Another epiphytic Orchid, Dockrillia pugioniformis
Dagger Orchid (named for the shape of the leaves)

Kangaroo Ferns growing up along
a leaning trunk of a tree.

A colony of small Fungi growing out of
a moss-covered log, on the ground.

Even small trees like this can have hollows
which are habitat for native animals.
One evening I came face to face with
a "Bush Rat" inside this hollow tree trunk.