A delightful small, pink moth with black spots

I had never seen anything like this delightful moth before.

Scoliacma bicolora

Daniel found it when the ANOS group was at Ken's place at Bullio, last week (where we saw the "Rufa-type Greenhood").

Scoliacma bicolora

Scoliacma bicolora

Scoliacma bicolora

Scoliacma bicolora

This little day-flying moth was relatively tame, and it walked around on Daniel's hand for a few moments. It then flew off fairly weakly, but it travelled far enough for me to lose track of it. Oh well, I had a few photos.


I then came to trying to identify it, with little success at first.

Naturally I tried to search images for a fairly distinctive moth, but somehow I missed it in the Australian Moths On-line  But of course it is in that wonderful collation of images.

For those not familiar with that on-line reference for Moths,  "most of the information comes from Len Willan’s collection and from the Australian National Insect Collection housed in Canberra at CSIRO Ecosystem Sciences (formerly CSIRO Entomology).
Copyright of all images belongs to Len Willan and CSIRO Ecosystem Sciences."

How did I get to know this?

Well, that's where I have to sing the praises of Dave Rentz and Len Willan.
My Blogging colleague Dave Rentz, a retired CSIRO entomologist (now living in Insect Heaven at Kuranda, Qld. Dave has helped me many times with Cockroaches, Stick Insects, Katydids, and other odd insects I have come across.

I was also helped greatly by Len Willan, who I have met several times at Entomology Workshops which CSIRO Entomology has held over several years. You will already have noticed the credit to Len for compiling the images in that Moths On-line website. In fact I understand that Len more or less built that website.

Len told me that my moth is in a group known as Lichen Moths, which are treated in this paper from the Lichen people at the ANBG and the Australian National Herbarium.

I just love it when scientists work in an interdisciplinary manner. The Insect people do that really well, because the Moth larvae are often very host-specific. So the moth experts have to know their plants.
  
That paper tells me:  "Scoliacma bicolora. This species has been found in north and south Queensland and from there south to Victoria, Tasmania and south-east South Australia. Near Adelaide larvae of this species have been seen eating moss and, less frequently, lichens on rocks in grassy areas."

Len's further information was as follows:

• Your moth is Scoliacma bicolora (Boisduval, 1832)( (Arctiidae: Lithosiinae),
• I have most of the described  Arctids well covered on Australian Moths Online, they best seen as a Slideshow for Arctiidae  
• A resting specimen at Mt Annan Botanical Gardens is shown via this link

What can I say?
All my questions had been promptly answered by both Dave Rentz and Len Willan, and I have only met Len a couple of times. He was even kind enough to tell me he likes my Orchid photos. So that's very nice to know.

He added this point, with which I completely concur:
I presume that these populations and other lichen feeding moth larvae are been completely buggered by successive wildfires and above all repetitive "control burning".
 
One of these days I will write more on "control burning" a subject about which I have recently reported a little, but not enough. I previously reported on an SCA "control burn" which was similarly overly hot and ran out of control.

In my view, if the endangered Ground Parrots and Eastern Bristlebirds at Budderoo Plateau have their habitat burnt at breeding season, (and when they are well-and-truly known to be present), what chance is there that fires will be planned around the need to protect creatures as little known as Lichen Moths and Tussock Moths? 

Its almost enough to make one despair. But Len ended his email with this note: "Slow Stoning wears away the Drips"

Corunastylis formosa (???)

Two days ago I published a post proclaiming that I had found a "new" Midge Orchid - new for me - that is.

Right and wrong.

Ah, the perils of Blogging, folks.

Yes I had found a "new species for me" 

but unfortunately I had given it the wrong name. 

Corunastylis formosa (not Corunastylis filiformis)
(Even that name requires confirmation.
It is possible that this is an as-yet unnamed species)

I had proclaimed that the species was Corunastylis filiformis. My Orchid-chasing colleague Colin Rowan (from RetiredAussies.com) emailed me to ask "are you sure?"

My answer was that NO, I was NOT SURE.
(I became less sure as I looked further and further into the original ID)

We swapped notes and I also communicated again with Alan Stephenson, who was able to provide a copy of the Orchadian description of another species, Corunastylis formosa, which, from P. 180 of David Jones's big Orchid book, looked a "better fit" with my plant.

• The Orchadian, Vol 13, No 7 Published March 2001.

This is a copy of that illustration by David Jones, 

originally drawn on  4 December 1994.

Click to enlarge the image, 

to allow you to read the notes, 
and to see details of the illustration.

Note the text gives the name as Genoplesium formosum.
It has since been revised by Clements and Jones
in the Australian Orchid Name Index
as Corunastylis formosa.

Jones illustration from The Orchadian, from the original "description"

In order to resolve the true Identity of this plant, I decided I needed to collect a specimen, which will be forwarded to Mark Clements, at CSIRO, for verification of this ID, and to formally record the location of these plants at Butler's Swamp, Kangaloon, NSW.

So, why am I so sure that what is growing in Kangaloon
is Corunastylis formosa?
(I am no longer as sure.
But if it is not that species, what is it?
It has appeared early in the season,
in the same location for the last 3 years).

Corunastylis formosa (possibly) at Kangaloon.

The first point I wish to address is the habitat in which this plant grows. 
My flowers are growing on the edge of Butler's Swamp, Kangaloon
They are growing in the open, 
amongst grasses and some rushes
on black soil.
Some of them are found in deep moist peaty soil,
typical of an "upland swamp" over a sandstone rock substrate.
Altitude at Butler's Swamp is 640 metres. 

(Legal Note: these plants at Butler's Swamp are 
located immediately outside the "SCA's Special Areas")

Jones described his type specimen as 
"growing amongst shrubs on or close to the edges of montane swamps;
less commonly amongst grass bordering rivulets and other small streams.
Soils are  moist brown to blackish loams.
Altitude 750 - 800 m."

He also gives the etymology of the name "formosa"
as "from the Latin, formosus, finely formed, handsome,
in reference to the striking flowers and dense inflorescence."

Jones, D.L. The Orchadian, Vol 13, No 7 .... March 2001.

I wish to make the point about the similarity of habitat for Kangaloon
and the "type locality" as described by David Jones.
Altitude is high at Kangaloon (640 m), 
but not quite as high as Wadbilliga or Cathcart.
But compared to many other Corunastylis, 
both these groups of plants 
(Jones's "Type specimens" and my plants) 
must  be acknowledged as "growing at altitude".
  
Also the soil and habitat preferences appear similar for both sites.
Importantly, this is an unusual locality and habitat 
for other Corunastylis species I have located in this region
prefer locations, on dry soils or exposed rock shelves.



And now to the flower details:

The lateral sepals look like pointed "horns" poking out.

In situ, these lateral sepals tend to be held horizontally.
The dorsal sepal has no hairs along the edge
and the Labellum is coarsely hairy.
The labellum is also quite broad and "stiff" (i.e., it is not motile***)
as distinct from Corunastylis fimbriata, for example.

A single flower of  Corunastylis formosa (???) - isolated

To see the flower clearly, (isolated from others on the stem)
I severed the ovary and the flower from the stem.
Compare this image with the Figure "d" 

in the illustration above.
(Ignore the shadow lines)
Click to see the details.

Corunastylis formosa (???) petals and labellum visible, over the dorsal sepal.

Back to the Identification of this plant. 

This flower has the same "structure" as described by David Jones within his  Corunastylis Group 2: "Dorsal Sepal hairless, petals hairless or with a few long hairs labellum broad with long coarse hairs." Jones. op cit P. 179

Compare this plant with the following related plants which I have previously reported and photographed. These are all grouped together by Jones in his "Group 2" (for Corunastylis).

1. Corunastylis plumosa, the Tallong Midge Orchid - which grows on harsh, dry rock shelves, under dense low shrubbery.
2. Corunastylis sagittifera, the "Horned Midge Orchid" which is a much paler flower, with a light-coloured labellum.
3. Corunastylis formosa, the Cathcart Midge Orchid - this flower.

In order to study the flower's parts in detail
I dissected one flower.

Here is the Labellum.

You can see the coarse hairs on the labellum closely

and the two pale sections are the "callus" on the labellum

That callus is illustrated clearly in David Jones's illustration above

See figure "e" in the centre of that illustration.

Labellum of Corunastylis formosa (???), showing the "callus"

Here you can see the "dorsal sepal" (between my fingers)
with the column exposed (showing the pollinia)

Click to enlarge the image.

The dorsal sepal and column of Corunastylis formosa  (???)

This is a significant extension of range(???) for Corunastylis formosa. 
Kangaloon is a long way north from Wadbilliga National Park and also from Cathcart, NSW. Google Maps shows Cathcart is 380 Km south (by road). Wadbilliga NP is 280 Km south from Kangaloon (by road). So this locality record is a significant extension of range for this species.

My friend Martin Butterfield has provided a map to show the relative positions of  Cathcart, Wadbilliga and Kangaloon.

**************

Orchid chasing works best when it is done collaboratively, I find.
So I wish to thank Colin Rowan and Alan Stephenson for discussing the ins and outs of this ID with me, and Alan for providing the text from the Orchadian in which David Jones first described this species. That Journal is not available "on line" unfortunately. Martin Butterfield, who like me, is a plant chaser, and a fellow Blogger, and someone else who lives "in the bush" and so is familiar with the need to help people know where exactly we are talking about, has sent me a map with the three locations for this plant marked.
Thanks everybody.

**************

*** motile: actively moving; self-propelled. (PlantNET)

The labellum of Corunastylis fimbriata "flutters" in the slightest breeze, or if one blows on it. This species (and many others) have a stiff labellum, which does not move.

Lets hope for a sunny morning in Kangaloon, tomorrow

Let us hope that tonight's sunset is a prelude to a warm sunny morning.

Sunset from my back deck tonight

Tomorrow morning we have approval for the annual ANOS visit to Kangaloon, to check out the Orchids growing there, which are protected from view by virtue of living within the Special Area of the Sydney Catchment Authority..

The SCA has granted ANOS Illawarra approval, for tomorrow, to enter the "Special Area" at Kangaloon. Naturally we will be very careful to not harm anything in this precious area.

I wish the same could be said about Apex Energy, at Darkes Forest, near Helensburgh.

Anyway, here are some images of a few of the Sun Orchids which might be visible to us, tomorrow, providing the weather is sunny. Sun Orchids earn their name, of course, by opening up only on sunny mornings.

Pink Sun Orchid, Thelymitra carnea.

Slender Sun Orchid - Thelymitra pauciflora

Spotted Sun Orchid - Thelymitra ixioides

So, let hope tomorrow is kind to us - SUNNY.

Painted Button-quail chick found in Kangaloon

Image alert - photos of a dead bird are shown today.

If you do not wish to see these images, please come back tomorrow.

As sometime happens I find a dead bird which is sufficiently rare or unusual that I decide to publish some photos of it. There is nothing offensive or gross in these images. I am publishing them out of scientific interest, and to establish a breeding record for this species, in Kangaloon. 

***** ***** *****

This bird is a juvenile of a Painted Button-quail (Turnix varius). That constitutes a breeding record for Kangaloon, (Tourist Road, outside the gate of the SCA Fire Trail 2A). The habitat is mixed Scribbly Gum and Stringybark Forest, with native grass and Pea Plants (Bitter Pea especially) and mixed Proteaceous scrub undergrowth. Sandstone soil substrate.

This is how the bird looked when it was found.

The body feathers near the legs are very "downy"

which confirms the juvenile status of this bird.

For a size comparison, it is roughly the 

size of a "Chicken" (of the domestic hen)

at about one week old.

Typical of ground-nesting birds,

this chick had very well developed legs and feet.

Dead chick of Painted Button-quail

The three toes of this bird are very strong, and although it is just a few weeks old, the toe nails of this chick are showing some signs of wear. The toe nails are very thick, and heavy. they are quite different from the needle-like nails of most perching birds, or especially the birds of prey - hawks and owls. These toes are built for walking, not for grasping either a perch, or for capturing prey.

It is reported that the young of the Painted Button-quail can fly within two weeks of hatching, so I assume this bird was capable of flying.

The feet (3 toes only) are diagnostic of Button-quails

The hind toe of Button-quails is reduced to a remnant callus. 

This is clearly visible in this image. 

Click to enlarge image.

Here you can see the callus which is the remnant hind toe.

As the local small black ants were swarming over this corpse already, I returned it to the same spot, to complete the recycling process which Nature had initiated.

Incidentally, as the head and body was more or less intact, I conclude that the bird was not killed by a fox, which would be the chief threat to a ground-nesting bird like this Button-quail.

Wikipedia has some interesting notes about Button-quails. They are not closely related to true quails. In fact, DNA analysis now indicates that they are an aberrant form of shore-birds (waders) which have adapted to a life in dry country. 

There is an article in the Wires (Northern Rivers) website which discusses their unusual sex role reversal from the norm, namely the females are more brightly coloured than males, and they "hold and defend their territory" and after laying eggs, the male takes charge of raising the young.

You may watch a video by Tom Tarrant of a Painted Button-quail feeding as it walks along quickly, in a native garden in Queensland. Watch how quickly it walks away at the end of this brief video. 

Good legs and feet, as you can see from my photos.

Another Sun Orchid - Thelymitra circumsepta

This pretty Sun Orchid is a late flowerer, by comparison with all the others which I find here in the Southern Highlands of NSW. Most of them have their peak around the first weekend of November. These plants are flowering for the first time this year, on 11 December. I previously saw this plant flowering, in the same place, on 4 December 2007. Allowing a few days for delay because of the rain we have had this year, this flowering event is about on that same schedule - roughly the end of the first week in December - and importantly, a full month later than most other Sun Orchids in this district.

I have checked for these plants several times in recent weeks. Eventually, on Wednesday this last week, I found two plants which were in bud, which I was able to confirm as being on this species.
But I needed them to open fully to properly record the species, its true nature, and get it established on the public record for the Southern Highlands.This plant is Thelymitra circumsepta. It is reported as flowering in December/January, and growing in soaks, in high rainfall areas. Bingo!

The pink or reddish colour of the top of the "column" (the "Post-anther Lobe") and the yellow tufts on the "lateral arms" of the column are diagnostic of this species. Colin Rowan reports very similar flowers (from Victoria), but lacking the reddish colour on the column. Everything else looks the same. His plants from Tasmania have the pink "post-anther lobe".
I cannot quite make out the details of the bead of moisture held in the lateral arms of this flower. I did not notice this detail until I got back home, at the end of along day.

This is such an attractive colour,
especially the "pink bits" of the flower.

Here is a close-up view of the flower, taken against a white shirt.

As these plants are growing adjacent to a road, in an area which the SCA has slashed, traditionally. I have asked the local supervisor to not allow slashing in this and other areas until winter, when any slashing tractors will do minimal damage to the flowering Orchids. At the moment is it simply too wet to allow tractors into this area.

More about Christmas Bells around Robbo

Today I found Christmas Bells (Blandfordia nobilis) flowering close to the roadside edge of Butler's Swamp. This area was crucial in the dispute with the Sydney Catchment Authority as it is rated as having the highest diodivesity rating (species per sq metre) of any area in the Kangaloon Aquifer. It is also the "Type Locality" (the place where the specimen from which a species was named) for the Kangaloon Sun Orchid (Thelymitra kangaloonica).

Interestingly, although this Swamp was studied extensively by the environmental consultants SMEC, they never recorded Christmas Bells in Butler's Swamp. That simply means they did not look at the right time, because today I spotted these plants after about 5 minutes looking, from the edge of the easement beside the swamp proper (I did not "trespass").
These "Environmental Studies" are always very limited, and that is why the "experts" ought seek the assistance and advice of local enthusiasts, because we can tell them when and where to look. Otherwise, trying to find a Christmas Bell, by leaf shape alone (when it is not in flower or seed) is far harder than looking for the proverbial "needle in a haystack".

This shows the location of these flowers
vis-a-vis the rest of Butler's Swamp.
See the two red circles drawn in on the image - in the foreground.
(Click to enlarge the image)
There is a monitoring bore (pipe) visible in the far distance.

To my left, from where I took the other photos,
you can see I was close to a monitoring bore.
The SCA boundary warning notice is in the far distance.
I am parallel with that notice, just outside their boundary line.

I have gone back through my old photos of Christmas Bells, and checked the dates for flowering times, in the local area. The earliest I have ever seen them in flower was 2 December 2007, on dry sandstone heath at Budderoo Plateau. Next was 1 January 2009, also on Budderoo, then in Butler's Swamp, from 21 January onwards (over several different years). The latest I have seen them flower there is 5 February 2007. Butler's Swamp is both wetter and colder than other habitats where I have seen Christmas Bells in the Southern Highlands, so that obviously delays their flowering time here.

Interestingly, in the Royal National Park (just south of Sydney, a warm spot on the coast), I have seen Christmas Bells in flower on 22 July 2009. That record (even if unusual) confirms the range of flowering times of this species, and the need for local knowledge, when trying to conduct environmental studies, to find ephemeral flowers, particularly in an environment such as an "Upland Swamp".

A rare golden form of Christmas Bell
in Butler's Swamp 25/1/2007

I have published this image before, but just for old times sake, here is a photo of a rare golden form of the Christmas Bell, which flowered in Butler's Swamp on 25 January 2007. It is regarded by the botanists as a variant form, within the basic species.

Keep your nerve, Mr Turnbull.

Edit - Tuesday 2 December 2009.

This afternoon I received the following email from Malcolm Turnbull, MP, Member for Wentworth.

Thanks Denis for your email and very much appreciate your feedback!

All the best

Malcolm

Given that Mr Turnbull was deposed as leader of the Liberal Party this morning, I was amazed, but gratified, to recveive his reply today.

He has a reputation for replying to his own emails (personally). But even if he hires someone to do it for him, clearly it is a personalised reply.

I wish him all the best.

***** ***** *****

This is a copy of a letter I emailed to Malcolm Turnbull late on Friday evening.











Dear Mr Turnbull

You are entirely right to stick to your guns and not cave in.

The Liberal Party needs to have a policy on Climate Change.

In all seriousness, how could it not?

As Chairman of the Save Water Alliance, in the Southern Highlands, I still recall with great respect your decision to declare the Upper Nepean (Kangaloon Aquifer) Borefield proposal by the Sydney Catchment Authority a "Controlled Action" under the EPBC Act.

Indeed it is that which has prompted me to write to you on this other matter, as many of the local "movers and shakers" (who personally lobbied you on our behalf re the Kangaloon Aquifer) speak very highly of you.

You did well then, and I am convinced you are on the right track now.

You supported us then, and for what it is worth, I am supporting you now.

*****

After all, as "Crikey" pointed out today, the policy you are defending now is pretty much that which you took to the last election, and which was developed under the Howard Government.

So what really were your opponents thinking, several years ago, when that policy was developed?

I conclude that they were not prepared to oppose Mr Howard (on anything).

Therefore, it is clearly not a matter of principle with them at all - but political point scoring pure and simple.

The Liberal Party cannot surely face the people without a policy on Climate Change?

Yours sincerely

Denis Wilson

Robertson, NSW 2577

Saturday, 28 November 2009

www.peonyden.blogspot.com

Kangaloon Sun Orchid - an endemic rare plant

This is the famous Kangaloon Sun Orchid, Thelymitra kangaloonica.
Haven't heard of it? Shame on you, dear reader. It has been written up here, before.

It is one of those "Threatened Species" things which we managed to use to convince Malcolm Turnbull to declare the SCA's Upper Nepean (Kangaloon) Groundwater project to be a "Controlled Action" under the EPBC Act.

And last year, Peter Garrett deemed this plant to be "critically endangered" and put it on the Threatened Species lists of the EPBC Act.

The problem for this plant is that it lives only at 3 known locations in the Southern Highlands - all of which are under the control of the SCA.

1. Wildes Meadow Swamp was flooded by the SCA to build the Fitzroy Falls Reservoir - so that registered swamp habitat (for this plant) is now permanently under water.
   
2. Stockyard Swamp is off limits to everybody except Coal Miners, Power Company workers, Drilling Rigs and all those other sensitive souls who work for the SCA. That is right in their best source of water for the SCA in trying to develop the Kangaloon Borefield - well, so they believe anyway. Orchid enthusiasts, even authentic researchers are denied access. It was where this species was first found, and "voucher specimens" collected. It was identified at that stage as belonging to a different species (Thelymitra grandiflora). Those herbarium specimens have since been re-examined and found to belong to this species.
   
3. That leaves Butlers Swamp. Fortunately, the SCA has continued to recognise as legitimate the interests of the Australasian Native Orchid Society, Illawarra Branch, which has conducted surveys of Butlers Swamp for some 30 years. Butler's Swamp is the "type locality" for this plant. In other words, the specimen from which this plant was formally described and named came from Butler's Swamp.
   

So there they were, flowering happily last weekend.

(Click to enlarge image)

Here are two flowers on a multi-flowered stem.
You can see the rich blue colouring (with a hint of purple)
and the strong veining.

And here is the distinctive column and "post-anther lobe"
(the hooded bit over the column)
The "column arms" are held relatively flat in this species
(they do not bend or curl upwards as some others do)
and are well separated from the yellow section of the "hood".
The lobe is "notched" and "toothed.
These are diagnostic features of this species.It was gratifying to see that these plants are doing quite well this year.

Lets hope that the SCA does not resume pumping from the Kangaloon Aquifer, for when they did their trial pumping, they dried the swamp out terribly, despite their denials to the contrary. We have photographic evidence of that.

Stegostyla testacea (a "Caladenia"}

Stegostyla testacea was formerly classed as a Caladenia testacea.
It carries the name "Honey Caladenia", but my nose is not sensitive enough to detect that, but it is said to be most noticeable on warm days (and I don't get a lot of those!). There are a number of similar species of Stegostyla (Caladenia), including Steg. hildae and Steg. transitoria (this last one reported by my colleague Gouldiae - from the Latrobe Valley in Victoria).

This shows the tendency of this species to carry several flowers on the one stem - unlike the early flowered Stegostyla species I showed before.

This image is not good, but I was trying to look inside the flower, to detect any marks on the column, which are just visible.These plants were located in Kangaloon, just on the side of Kirlkland Road, where the Illawarra Branch of ANOS had permission to enter, from the SCA. Many thanks to them for that.

They were growing in dense closed Eucalypt forest on loose grey sandy soil, over sandstone. They were not growing in the open habitat along Tourist Road.

Kangaloon Sun Orchid "listed" on EPBC Act

Breaking News: Kangaloon Sun Orchid listed on EPBC Act, as a Critically Endangered Species.

I am delighted to pass on the news that the Kangaloon Sun Orchid, a newly described species of Orchid, which is known to occur in Butler's Swamp, Kangaloon, (near Robertson) has been accepted by the Federal Minister for Environment, the Hon Peter Garrett MP, for listing under the Federal environment legislation for protection - the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. It is classed as "Critically Endangered".

Kangaloon Sun Orchid (Thelymitra kangaloonica)

You may see the listing details here: http://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/sprat/public/publicspecies.pl?taxon_id=81971

The earliest records for this species are old records from Stockyard Swamp, and from the Wildes Meadow Swamp, (prior to that Swamp being flooded to form the Fitzroy Falls reservoir). These plants have been studied by members of the Illawarra Branch of the Australasian Native Orchid Society for many years.

Wildes Meadow Swamp lost 80% of its swamp area, when it was flooded in the early 1970s, to form the Fitzroy Falls Reservoir, as part of the "Shoalhaven Transfers" system, to help supply water to Sydney and Wollongong.

Butler's Swamp and Stockyard Swamp are both potentially at risk from recent proposals by the Sydney Catchment Authority to pump water from the Kangaloon Aquifer. Although the Mr Rees declared last year that the Kangaloon Aquifer proposal was to be "put on hold", the SCA is still preparing to get the Minister for Planning to grant Development Approval to the proposal - so the threat is still live (even if not imminent).

I welcome Mr Garrett's decision to recognise the risk to this species, and to list it with the highest status of protection under the EPBC Act.

Like most Sun Orchids, this plant is shy to flower, and will only open its flowers on a bright, sunny day, and then only for a few hours. Like most Sun Orchids the flowers open and close, depending upon the weather. This plant is a lavender blue colour, with darker stripes. It was photographed flowering on the edge of Butler's Swamp in early November 2007.

Only one single flower was reported as flowering in that season - and this is that specimen. I photographed it several times, several days apart. I also reported it to the researchers from SMEC, environmental consultants for the SCA. This image is of the flower as it darkens, after having opened (presumably several times), over a period of a few days.

Few plants are as rare as this one is. I am glad that it has been recognised as "critically endangered" under the National environment protection legislation.

Here is a close-up of the "column" of the Kangaloon Sun Orchid, showing the details of the column arms (the "mop-like hair tufts"), and the distinctively notched "post anther lobe" (the yellow bit on top of the column). The shape, form and colour of these details of the column are diagnostic features of Sun Orchids. I must admit to finding these details infuriatingly difficult to photograph well, and then to describe. But, I assure you, these details are very important for getting the correct identification of Sun Orchids.

Here is a link to the post I published on 9 May 2007 when I nominated this species for listing under the EPBC Act.

And here is the Ministerial Instrument, signed by the Minister, Mr Garrett, on 19 December 2008.


The listing was announced by the Minister yesterday (18 January 2009).