Orchid seed as fine as dust.

Today I was showing my friends Owen and Cathryn, and Helen some of the early summer Orchids of Kangaloon. We were accompanied by Cathryn's brother, David and his wife Merle, visitors from Canberra. We had a good fun time  looking for Orchids and other bits and pieces.

There is much of interest about in Kangaloon, (and not just Orchids, you will be pleased to hear). Some of the Orchids are just starting to flower, and some are still hanging around (from Springtime).

Seeds of Thelymitra (Sun Orchids) are as fine as dust

They are wind blown when the capsule is ready to shed.

In this case we experimented by flicking the ripe seed pod.

My photographic assistant counted down 3, 2,1, go.
I took the shot, with a flash, to illuminate the seeds.

Click to enlarge - to see the Orchid seeds better.

I found this Hairy Caterpillar (probably a "Wooly Bear" Caterpillar)

feeding on the leaves of a Hardenbergia violacea (False Sarsparilla)

Head-on view of the "Wooly Bear" caterpillar

Side-on view. Long hairs can cause skin irritation. Two red mites.

We found this Jewel Beetle feeding on 
a low-growing Leptospermum plant

on the edge of Butler's Swamp.

These Beetles love Leptospermum flowers.
As Beetles go this is quite large, flat, and very peaceful.
About 40mm long.

Stigmodera macularia Jewel Beetle

 I like this front on view..

Nice large eyes.

Its eyes look a bit "Possum-like", to me.

 

From the side.

Jewel Beetle - from the side. Stigmodera macularia

• Corunastylis densa (a tiny Midge Orchid), cherry-red in colour - first found in Kangaloon, 16 January 2011.

Corunastylis densa (Kirsten Vine photo)

• Cryptostylis leptochila (Small Tongue Orchid) on Kirkland Road - just starting to bloom.

Cryptostylis leptochila - red velvety labellum with scent glands visible

The way the labellum curves back at the top is typical of this species.

Cryptostylis leptochila - side on view. Labellum reflexed at top.

• Hyacinth Orchids - Dipodium punctata and/or roseum (Kirkland Road) - just starting (Shown yesterday)
• Hyacinth Orchids - Dipodium roseum (definite) at Meryla Pass Rd (on plateau at top end of Griffin's Fire Trail, near Bundanoon Creek - accessed via Fitzroy Falls Rd (Nowra Rd). (Shown yesterday).
• Microtis unifolia, tall Onion Orchids growing amongst Daviesia (Bitter Pea) shrubbery.

Microtis unifolia "Common Onion Orchid"

• Caleana major (Flying Duck Orchid) (some still in flower at Butlers Swamp - dry part, near car park - not in the swampy bit).
• It is one of my favourite Orchids. A good one, like this, always makes me giggle.

•  Gastrodium sp. (Kirkland Road colony) have just a few flowers remaining. Huge seed setting has occurred.
  

Huge number of seeds set in this colony of Potato Orchids.

Close-up of swollen capsules on Gastrodium sp.

• Prasophyllum flavum (one fresh flower) on Tourist Road, in dense cover, growing amongst the Hop Bitter Pea (Daviesia latifolia). I also found 4 more yesterday near Hindmarsh Lookout, (near Belmore Falls).

Prasophyllum flavum (Yellow Leek Orchid) 

HAPPY NEW YEAR 

AND A GREAT 2012 

TO ALL READERS.

Spring Orchids on a sunny day.

 Well, thanks to everyone for their support in organising a sunny day yesterday, for our Orchid tour.

A very pleasant day was had by all.

Confusing, as ever when it comes to working out appropriate IDs for plants

some of which are extremely variable, as you will see.

We started out with the local show-piece Sarcochilus falcatus

Another nice clump of Sarcochilus falcatus.

We then moved down to Kangaloon and found these beauties just opening for the first time this season.

Sun Orchids refuse to open when it is not warm and sunny.
On advice from Colin I have edited several names.

Colin suggests this is Thelymitra x truncata

Thelymitra media - a nice tall, strong Sun Orchid.

 Here is one of the tiny Pink Sun Orchids which are very common locally.

These plants are notorious for opening only in warm sunny weather.

Thelymitra carnea - the Pink Sun Orchid

Next is another common Sun Orchid, the Slender Sun Orchid (Thelymitra pauciflora)

It is not a showy plant.
Pale colour, thin stem, relatively small flower.

Thelymitra pauciflora

Next we get into the hybrid Sun Orchids.

The following plants are all variants on a theme.

They are all descended from Thelymitra ixioides

but they show the parentage of the tiny pink "carnea" as well.

Sun Orchids are notoriously susceptible to hybridisation

as they tend to open at the same time, 

in close proximity to eachother.

The bees and other insects do the rest.

I thought this was Thelymitra x irregularis. But Colin disagrees

Colin thinks this is a pink colour form, of Thel. ixioides

This final plant is a large floppy flower, with some spots, a lilac colour.

But it is the different tip of the column which is most distinctive.

The Sun Orchid which we really wanted to see - Thelymitra kangaloonica - an endangered species known to grow in Butler's Swamp, Kangaloon, was not yet properly open. We found a few in bud, but not nearly as many as last year. Presumably this is down to seasonal variations. 

I have posted an album from yesterday with many more species in flower than in this Blog (because it would take far to long to present and to read through. You can have a quick look, and select certain flowers to look at, if you wish, by going to my Picasa Album for yesterday's outing,  which is now open to public viewing.

It includes three species of Beard Orchids, Flying Duck Orchid, lots of Stegostylas (Caladenia type plants) and a Potato Orchid. It also has photos of another local plant, which is an as-yet un-named Leek Orchid.

Hot weather burst finished some Orchids, kick started others

After three weeks of cold weather, with the Sun Orchids sitting there refusing to open, suddenly we got a burst of hot weather (27.9 C max). Two things happened (well three really) - my Peonies got burnt off (but I'm not going to talk further about them now), and then the little pink Caladenia type things nearly all shrivelled up, and in response to hot weather (which suits them) the Sun  Orchids, Beard Orchids and Flying Duck Orchids all popped open. So, it is a case of win some, lose some.

Firstly, the most prolific Sun Orchid which is found along Tourist Road 

The Spotted Sun Orchid - Thelymitra ixioides

The Spotted Sun Orchid - Thelymitra ixioides var ixioides.

Here is another example - a Spotted Sun Orchid with hardly any spots.

Thelymitra ixioides - a form with few spots

This flower is brand new, and the "column" has not yet fully developed.

It was just expanding, in the warm weather.

A newly opened Thelymitra ixioides

As a matter of record, these are the very first of this species of Sun Orchid to open, in Kangaloon, on 24 October 2011. The same species was rampantly in flower in Nowra, on 28 August, when I went down there with Alan Stephenson, to check out the Depot Road powerline easement - (an equally great spot for Orchids as Tourist Road, Kangaloon).

• Similar habitat - both are slashed grasslands on sandstone base soil.
• Different altitude - approx 60 metres in the Nowra case, and approximately 600 metres in the case of Kangaloon.
• Difference in flowering time: 7 weeks delayed flowering - owing to the altitude and cooler climate.

The next "new season" Orchids to open in the heat were these Leek Orchids. This is an as-yet un-named species of Prasophyllum. The closest species is probably Prasophyllum fuscum, which means I can safely refer to this one as "Prasophyllum sp. aff. fuscum".

Prasophyllum sp. aff. fuscum

And finally (for tonight's Blog post) here is the Flying Duck Orchid - Caleana major. Once again, this is the first of this species to open in Kangaloon this year. I saw one last weekend, at Dharawal State Conservation area, but that is lower and more coastal. So, that time difference is not surprising.

Flying Duck Orchid - Caleana major

I love this weird little flower. it is my favourite "challenge" to the pro-Dawkins lobby, for Richard Dawkins is a keen supporter of the "Blind Watchmaker" view of evolution. I just cannot figure that something this cute, effective (and good looking) is the result of "randomness coupled with cumulative selection". But I stress I am not arguing for an "Intelligent Design" view of the origin of species. I am simply expressing my admiration for the result of some 60 million years of Evolution, in what I like to categorise as one of the marvels of the Nature of Robertson.

Small Flying Duck Orchid

This is both a descriptive title and the "proper name" of an unusual Orchid which I saw when on a trip to Lithgow with the RiversSOS people. I have previously reported on several other rare plants I saw on that trip - Grevillea acanthifolia and also the Pagoda Rock Daisy.


What I was not able to adequately report at the time was that Louise, from the Lithgow Environment Group, who I was with on that wet and soggy tour of cracked cliff edges and the Pagodas, mentioned that she had spotted some "small Orchids - about 3 inches high". I immediately leapt out of the car, to go back with her, as I knew that it was way past the flowering season of most small Orchids, such as the "Caladenias". So any Orchid in flower up there which was as small as she said was likely to be "unusual".

My mistake was to not take my "Macro Lens" with me, so the images I managed to take through the fogged-up camera lens, while peering through my rain-spotted glasses, were barely recognisable. But I could see that in fact they were of the "Small Flying Duck Orchid". Sullivania minor (formerly Paracaleana minor).

That is a plant I had never seen before.


Since that weekend, I have been tied up with building work, and then it has been raining heavily. The site was on a really awkward-to-access Forestry Trail on the hills beyond Lithgow, and the road was bad enough in reasonable weather, but it has been bucketing down frequently since that weekend. So, I did not trust my energy levels, and my navigation skills, and Mud-Bashing driving technique enough to make the trip back to Lithgow (about 4 hours from Robertson). So I had made the resolve to "get back there another year, in late November".


Well, fortunately, Chris Jonkers (from Lithgow) who was leading that Rivers SOS tour that wet afternoon, has managed to get back to the exact spot where Louise saw those little orchids and has kindly sent me some images. I know he tried at least once without finding these Small Flying Duck Orchids, but he did find some of the regular (and much taller) "Flying Duck Orchids". In the process of that trip, Chris clearly got a drenching for his troubles. But he went back yet again to find the spot Louise had told him about - this time with success.


Several days ago Chris sent me these photos.

Small Flying Duck Orchid 

(Image courtesy Chris Jonkers)

Sullivania minor (Image C. Jonkers)

 Small Flying Duck Orchid

Head down (triggered closed)

Sullivania minor (Image C. Jonkers)

Those two images serve to show the similarities and some differences between this species and the regular Flying Duck Orchid (Caleana major).

Caleana major holds the "wings" back

and its entire flower is poised more vertically.

The "head" is well rounded, and smooth in texture.

Flying Duck Orchid - Caleana major
Photo: Denis Wilson

 By contrast, the Small Flying Duck Orchid 

holds the "wings" down beside the flower

and the head is distinctly "warty".

I should mention that the body is green

and of course, there is the matter of the height.

 

Sullivania minor (Image C. Jonkers)

This Species is a mere 100 mm high, whereas the regular Flying Duck Orchid stands about four times as tall as that (350 mm to 400 mm approx.)

A Flying Duck Orchid Portrait

In response to Martin's comment yesterday on the fact it was the "first time he had seen the Flying Duck remblance", I commented that I had had problems with the dark flowers against a dark background. I went on to say perhaps I ought take a board or other light background with me.

I had an hour and a half to spare, today, so I went back out to Meryla Pass.

Well here is the new image:
(Click to enlarge)

Now that's a real "Flying Duck" Orchid, surely?

Flying Duck Orchids at Meryla Pass

Several days ago I went down the Meryla Pass road, in the Meryla State Forest. I stopped when I got to the Morton National Park - simply because I was going to run out of time and light, if I had kept going. It is great country. However, I did take a single shot of the spectacular Bluff opposite Meryla Pass. You can see why this country is regarded as "Blue Mountains" habitat, albeit lower and further south. Still sandstone, and still spectacular.

This Bluff must be close to the end of "Red Hills Road",
near Fitzroy Falls.
It is overlooking part of the Morton National Park,
with the Shoalhaven River Gorge beyond it.
This country, which I am yearning to access
is inaccessible to most human beings.
Indeed, even the road I was on (which is accessible)
leads to a locked gate.
That is the start of the Northern Section of the Ettrema
Wilderness Area.

The road to Meryla Pass leaves the Nowra Road (the road from Moss Vale to Fitzroy Falls and down through Kangaroo Valley and on to Nowra). There is a small sign saying Meryla Road, and Manchester Square. The first 5 Km take you down a winding road, dropping off the fertile red basalt soil farmlands of Avoca and Werai districts, down into the moist rich farm lands of "Manchester Square". (A most unlikely name for a farming district in Australia - but that's what the district is called. There is no township, just a "locality").

Passing on from Manchester Square two things happen, you leave the bitumen and you enter the Meryla State Forest. You have also driven down onto the Sandstone. That's what I am interested, for its rich flora and fauna habitat.

Nothing says "Classic Sandstone Flora" to me
more than Boronia bushes.

Boronia thujona - close up.
(Edit: In retrospect, I realise the leaflets are smaller
and more rounded than B. thujona.
It may in fact be B. microphylla.)
B. thujona is very common at the Barren Grounds.
I have not identified B. microphylla previously.
These plants are growing just on top of rocky outcrops.We are overtopping Bundanoon Creek,
on a small sandstone outcrop.

This is what the small rocky outcrop looks like.
Another of the "typical" shrubs here is the large-flowered pink
Tea-tree - Leptospermum rotundifolium.

Here is a close-up shot of the lovely "Round-leaved Tea-tree"
While I was there, I saw this male Gang-gang Cockatoo
"watching me, watching him".
Click to get a better view of him.
And here are the Flying Duck Orchids (Caleana major)
A veritable flock of them.
They are relatively tall (30 cm on average).
But small flowqers, on thin stems, so at first glance they look
more like a swarm of flying insects than Flying Ducks.
Here is another view.
Two flowers on a single stem (which is a common arrangement).
Now you can see how they earn their name.
Another view.
The bud on top is just unfurling.
the top parts will fold back, as wings.
The lower section, which is green, will turn red
as the flower matures, becoming the "body" of the Flying Duck.
The "head" is the "labellum" of the Orchid,
which at this stage is still inside the flower.
Now we come to the "pointy end" of the story.
The top flower is fully open.
The second (lower) flower has been triggered by an insect
(or stray movement).
The "head" (labellum) snaps shut over the body (column)
hopefully trapping any stray insect inside until it
collects a dob of sticky pollinia on its head or back
(or deposits one from another plant)
thus achieving pollination.
On the lower flower
The head is completely folded down over the Duck's "stomach".
(Click to see it better.)
Here is the "head" and the all important "neck".
The "lamina" (neck) is flexible
and when triggered by the sensation of movement in the flower
the "lamina" snaps shut.
The head bends right down,
closing off the previously open "body" of the flower.
Here is the front on view of the "body" of the Flying Duck Orchid.
The lowest section shows the anther where the pollen is stored.
The head snaps over to completely close off this "body".
The round shape allows room for an insect pollinator
to move around inside the flower,
even when the head snaps closed.

More odd little things which happen around Robertson

My very first post on this Blog involved the Flying Duck Orchid, (Caleana major). It was called "Odd little things which grow around Robertson".

Two weeks ago, at the end of the ANOS (Illawarra Branch) field trip, several of us found this little Orchid. If you look at the "head" of the flower, and see the "duck head" - then the mystery of the name will reveal itself.

Click on the image to enlarge it.

Not only was the Orchid in flower., but there was a Mosquito attempting to pollinate the flower - hence the slight variant in title from the original Blog Posting.

In fact the Mozzie was too small to trigger the labellum of the Orchid (in this case the "head of the duck") to snap closed. You can see the pollinia are still in place, at the very base of the flower. But clearly the Mozzie had the "right idea".

Click on the photo to see the Mosquito and the flower parts - in detail

For those of you not familiar with pollination in many of Australian Orchids, the plants have evolved a system of emitting highly specialised scents which mimic the pheromones produced by certain female insects. This drives male insects (of the right species) into a sexual frenzy, and the insects attempt to "mate" with the flower. This process is called "pseudo-copulation". It is well reported, in the world of Orchids and insects.

This link will take you to other photos of this species, one with a flower spider in a web spun across the open section of the flower - obviously waiting for an insect such as this one, to arrive.