A Splendidly Orchidy Spring!

This southern spring just ended (in Australia we use the Meteorological definition, which means spring runs from 1 September to 30 November) has truly been a splendid one. After three years of intense El Niño-driven drought, La Niña rolled into Australia, the rains finally came and the bush responded dramatically. Plants, especially herbs which had not even bothered to flower for the previous dry springs, made up for lost time by flowering prolifically, and the insects responded. 

A few of thousands of Waxlip Orchids Caladenia (or Glossodia) major,
Black Mountain, Canberra.

 

Massed Thin-clubbed Spider (or Mantis) Orchids Caladenia atrovespa,
Black Mountain.

I responded in my own way (though unlike the insects I didn't try to land on any orchids), by making an effort to get out and find as many orchids as I could. I'm passionate about native orchids, and have been starved in recent times! Here then are the orchids I found, 37 species of them, though my search ended in late November when I had my hip operation, so I missed most of the local mountain species. We've done just one trip into the mountains since then, in late December when I was confined to the roadside. 

Except where I've specified all these orchids were seen in the ACT, in or close to Canberra. I've put the dates when I first saw the species to give an idea of how the season unrolled, but I'll introduce the orchids in genera (species groups) to make comparisons easier. Finally, orchid taxonomy has been notoriously tumultuous in the past decade or so, though the dust is now settling. The bold (and seemingly well-supported) move to break some huge Australian orchid genera into more manageable - and more importantly, more informative - smaller genera has been thoroughly rebuffed. With some regrets, I've here gone along with this orthodoxy, while indicating where some other names are used by current guides (most notably the recent and excellent Field Guide to Orchids of the Southern Tablelands of NSW including the ACT by Jean Egan et al). 

Blue Fingers Caladenia caerulea, Black Mountain 27 September;
reliably the first spring orchid to appear round here.

Dusky Fingers Caladenia fuscata, Black Mountain 27 September;
follows soon after the Blue Fingers.

Another Dusky Fingers, to indicate the colour range it presents.

Pink Fingers Caladenia carnea, Gungahlin Hill, 28 September.
One of the commonest and most widespread Australian orchids,
found from north Queensland to Tasmania and the Eyre Peninsula.
I'm always glad to encounter them.

Brown Caps (a somewhat puzzling name) Caladenia ustulata, Gungahlin Hill, 28 September.
The first of three quite similar, strongly hooded, white caladenias to appear locally.
(The dorsal sepal bends tightly over the flower, compared with the relatively erect sepal
in the previous species.)

Waxlip Orchid Caladenia (but hitherto Glossodia) major, Black Mountain 27 September.
A very handsome and familar orchid, which in a good year (as last spring was)
can appear in vast numbers.

Lemon Caps (hmm) Caladenia cucullata, Black Mountain 5 October.

Musky Caps Caladenia moschata, Black Mountain 20 October.
And it really does have a sweet musky scent if the day is warm.

Mountain Caps Caladenia alpina, Tinderry Nature Reserve,
40km south of Canberra. A pretty little Caladenia from higher altitudes.

Pink Caps Caladenia congesta, Black Mountain, 6 November.
Perhaps my favourite of the 'caps', an uncommon orchid which
I'd not seen for some years, and this was a new site for it for me.

Another quite distinctive groups of orchids, commonly known as spider orchids for their long slender flower parts, have been reincorporated into Caladenia, but they are so different from the caps that I'll group them separately for this introduction. The first one I found this spring was a very special one indeed.

Canberra Spider Orchid Caladenia actensis, Mount Majura, 2 October.
This diminutive spider is restricted to this one part of the ACT, and is nationally listed
as Critically Endangered. Fortunately (or perhaps not) it is very hard to see; I have
searched for some time within a few metres of a colony before noticing them.
The name suffix 'ensis' refers to a locality; in this case the locality is the ACT -  very cute.

Thin-clubbed Spider (or Mantis) Orchid Caladenia atrovespa,
Black Mountain, 8 October. This is the common spider orchid locally,
and this spring it was abundant in places. The brown warty 'clubs' on the
tips of the sepals exude pseudo-pheromones to attract male thinnine wasps
who mistake the flower for a female wasp and in the struggle transfer pollen.

Brown-clubbed Spider Orchid Caladenia parva (the ACT plants were formerly included
in C. phaeoclavia), Mount Tennent (just south of Canberra), 9 October.

I grew up referring to species of Diuris as 'donkey orchids', though that name seems to be out of favour these days; 'doubletail', the translation of Diuris, is preferred, along with a range of other mostly animal names. 

 

Black Mountain Donkey (or Leopard) Orchid Diuris nigromontana, Black Mountain,
27 September, is restricted to the ACT and is mostly only found on Black Mountain sandstone.
The name is another cute piece of Latin playfulness - it is based on 'black mountain'!

 

Leopard Orchid or Doubletail Diuris pardina, Gungahlin Hill, 28 September.

Golden Moths Diuris chryseopsis, Gungahlin Hill, 29 September.
A grassland species which can form colonies of hundreds or even thousands.

Tiger (or Hornet) Orchid Diuris sulphurea, Black Mountain 8 October.
This big bright donkey is very common throughout the south-east coast and hinterland.
Maybe that's why I seemed not to try very hard to get a good photo of it this spring!

Large Golden Moth Diuris amabilis, near Bungendore (approximately 30km ENE
of Canberra), 19 October. A grassland species which I'd not seen before (thanks Jeannie!).

Late Leopard Orchid Diuris semilunulata, Tinderry NR, 1 November.
Canberra records of this species refer to D. nigromontana or D. pardina.
This species is found in the ACT ranges however.

Another large orchid genus which was divided into smaller genera is the greenhoods, Pterostylis. Atpically, Jean Egan et al in their recent NSW Southern Tablelands guide (see above) have opted to retain the division of Pterostylis, and I do wonder if they have been advised of more forthcoming upheavals. 

Black-tip Greenhood Pterostylis or Hymenochilus bicolor, Black Mountain, 27 September.
The small flowers are only about 10mm long and are easily overlooked
in their grassy understorey habitat.

Midget Greenhood Pterostylis or Hymenochilus muticus, Mount Tennent, 9 October.
No more midget than its immediate relatives, but still tiny.

Needle-point Rustyhood Pterostylis or Oligochaetochilus aciculiformis, Black Mountain,
5 October. This one is part of a loose colony growing on the verge of a busy carpark;
I doubt that many people are aware of them though. Other species are really quite rusty.

Southern Hooked Rustyhood Pterostylis or Oligochaetochilus hamatus,
Mount Tennent, 9 October. A striking orchid if examined closely.

These last four greenhoods are found in relatively dry situations, often rocky in the case of the last two, but most of them are typical of moist areas, including the next three.

Nodding Greenhood Pterostylis nutans, Black Mountain, 10 October.
This self-effacing little greenhood is found in colonies from north Queensland to Tasmania
and South Australia. (It is also found in a couple of New Zealand localities, but
it seems not to be native to there.)

Maroonhood Pterostylis pedunculata, Woods Reserve, 11 October.
That afternoon we also saw thousands along one of the wet forest walking tracks
in Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve. It is very common in wetter parts of
south-eastern Australia.

Montane Leafy Greenhood Bunochilus montanus, Tidbinbilla NR, 11 October.

The bearded orchids (Calochilus) are, as you might guess from my profile pic, flowers for whom I have both fondness and even affinity! The wonderfully hirsute labellum (which is a petal much modified to form a landing platform for pollinating insects) attracts male scollid wasps which attempt to mate with it. However if the wasps don't oblige, it seems that all Calochilus will self-pollinate rather than waste the flowering season. I only managed a couple of species this spring, as I missed the later season ones which flowered when I was indisposed.

Purple Beard Orchid Calochilus platychilus, Black Mountain, 8 October.
This one also had a good season this spring; it flowers quite early in the season.

Red or Strap Beard Orchid Calochilus paludosus, upper Blue Mountains, 28 October..
Here it was common, but in the ACT it occurs at only one site.

 

The leek orchids were until recently all regarded as in the genus Prasophyllum, but in recent times many have been shifted to Paraprasophyllum - needless to say this is not universally accepted! Unusually among orchids they offer a good nectar reward to pollinators, and advertise it with strong sweet scents. Many will only flower in ground that has been burnt in the previous summer; this was true of both species we saw in the Blue Mountains in late October.

Short-lip Leek Orchid Paraprasophyllum brevilabre, Black Mountain, 10 October.
This damp side of the mountain had not burnt in recent times, and there
was only on flowering stem present.

Short-lip Leek Orchid, Blackheath, Blue Mountains; I include this duplicate photo
because the stem colour was quite different from the Black Mountain one I'd found
earlier (above). It's also a better photo!

Tall Leek Orchid Prasophyllum elatum, Blackheath. And at well over a metre high,
it is tall indeed! We had no trouble spotting it from the car as we drove along
a bush track. Remarkably this orchid grows in every Australian state
(but not the ACT or Northern Territory).

Tarengo Leek Orchid Paraprasophyllum petilum, northern ACT, 12 October.
This is a grassland species which is listed natonally as Endangered; it is known
from only one site in the ACT and a couple in nearby NSW.
It is not easy to find growing among tall grasses.

It is fair to say that onion orchids don't attract as much attention as most other, more colourful and obvious genera. The flowers are green, tiny - less than 5mm long, perched on a (relatively) large green ovary. There are numerous of these on a spike, and at least one species is known to be pollinated by ants, attracted by nectar. They are not easy to distinguish from each other either; there are only three species recognised locally (though work is ongoing) - here they are.

Common Onion Orchid Microtis unifolia, near Bungendore, 19 October.

Slender Onion Orchid M. parviflora, Black Mountain, 10 November.

Sweet, or Alpine, Onion Orchid M. oblonga, Namadgi National Park,
above Canberra. I 'found' this on our recent mountain excursion, when I awkwardly
leaned on a bank to take a (one-handed) photo of something else, and almost put my hand on it.
I hadn't previously seen this one.

Sun Orchids Thelymitra are generally much more visible - but only if there's enough sun (or at least warmth) to encourage them to open! 

Slender Sun Orchid Thelymitra pauciflora, Gungahlin Hill NR, Canberra, 22 October.
This is one of the commonest sun orchids locally.

On our Blue Mountains visit it was wet, windy and cold most of the time, so while we saw hundreds of sun orchid spikes, the flowers stayed stubbornly closed, except for this single one on a rare almost-sunny afternoon.

Spotted Sun Orchid Thelymitra ixioides.
Our cabin was surrounded by the spikes of buds, but not a one of them showed its face.

However our Blue Mountains trip did produce lots of one of our favourite orchids, the extraordinary Flying Duck, Caleana major.

Flying Duck Orchid - and really, what else could you call it?! Walls Lookout Walk, 27 October.
They grow in colonies, especially among sandstone rocks, but also in the forest on sandy soils.

There was such a colony growing along the entrance track to our cabin, and it was there, as we were leaving for home, that we saw something I'd not managed to photograph before. A male sawfly was struggling to escape the flower, in the course of which the duck's 'head' had snapped down to trap him temporarily while the bundle of pollen (the pollinium) stuck to his back. I missed photographing the struggle but managed to snap him as he rested on the flower to regather his energy before flying off.

Male sawfly Lophyrotoma sp. on triggered Flying Duck. The pollinium looks like a yellow saddle.
The incredible feathery antennae are very sensitive to the scent of both his intended (a female sawfly) and the counterfeit one produced by the flower. (And my apologies if you've seen this photo
recently on my blog page, but I couldn't leave it out of this post!)

Finally, on our most recent trip, to the mountains, we saw our first hyacinth orchid of the season - they are generally summer flowering. This was growing up the slope, so it's a telephoto shot, but fit for purpose. The hyacinths (Dipodium) are technically mycoheterotrophic (!), which is to say they gain nutrition by an association of their roots with underground fungi. Hence they are generally leafless and stems are often black - no need for cholorphyll as they don't photosynthesise.

Rosy Hyacinth Orchid Dipodium roseum, Namadgi NP.
This is a striking orchid, with a metre high flowering stem.

And that was it for our 2020 orchid season. I'd like to have been able to find more, but it was still pretty satisfying. If the rest of summer and autumn plays out as I hope I'll be making another posting to supplement this one something in late autumn. Thanks for sharing these wondeful plants with me!

NEXT POSTING THURSDAY 28 JANUARY.
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Farewell to 2020!

It's a long time since I was sorely tempted to say 'and good riddance' to a year, but it truly has been a shocker for us all. Here it began as 2019 ended, with so much of eastern Australia (and significant areas elsewhere) burning on a scale and at an intensity unprecedented in European times, and quite possibly ever. In Canberra (and parts of NSW) it continued with savagely destructive hailstorms in late January, following hard on the heels of widespread intensive dust storms over much of inland NSW, product of an extended ferocious drought. 

And then of course COVID-19, which has affected - and continues to affect - every country on earth to varying degrees. Here in Australia, we have been more fortunate than most. This is due both to being an island, and to the efforts of state and territory governments working in rare cooperation. We have also proved to be a population which has by and large done the right thing, despite the costs of doing so and our reputation for being a mob generally uninterested in going along with government strictures. Nonetheless everything has changed for everybody.

Continuing my tradition of recent years (since 2013 in fact), to mark the changeover of years I've selected a photo from each month of 2020. In the past the difficulty has usually been choosing just one picture per month (or even just two on the occasions I allowed myself to stretch a point), but not so for most of this year. Among the places we'd planned at various times to visit, but been prevented by COVID restrictions, are South Australia (we got as far as the Victorian-SA border in March before things imploded), Costa Rica, Queensland and the Blue Mountains for Christmas. Accordingly my choices of photos are much more limited than I'm used to, one result of which is that I've had to post bird pics for instance for successive months, which I try to avoid doing. I hope the journey is still worth your while!

 

As ever I don't make any pretence to photographic excellence, but have chosen the pictures because of their associations, and in most cases because they are ones I've not previously used this year in a blog posting. Let's embark.

JANUARY

 

Regent Honeyeater Anthochaera phrygia, Watson woodlands, suburban Canberra.
This is one of the world's rarest birds, with perhaps only 250 adults scattered along
the east coast and hinterland. Formerly abundant, it's not clear exactly why it's seemingly
headed for extinction, but it's a nomad which relies on the threatened temperate woodlands.
It's years since I saw one and this was an encounter both exciting and poignant.    

FEBRUARY

Eastern Bristlebird Dasyornis brachypterus, Currarong, south coast NSW.
This is another endangered species which we encountered on a morning walk in the
heathland at one of our favourite 'escape places', on the northern end of Beecroft
Peninsula, Jervis Bay. We try to get there at least a couple of times a year and
this was our last pre-COVID visit. Bristlebirds, old Australians, are notoriously
shy, but this pair investigated us on the track, just before oblivious walkers
and accompanying dogs scared them away.
(More on Currarong here.)

MARCH

At the beginning of the month (pre-COVID here) we visited a friend
at Lake Cargelligo in mid-western NSW. It was very dry still and not
a lot of obvious wildlife but this big Lace Monitor Varanus varius (most of
two metres long) caught our attention, despite trying to be inconspicuous.

 

Later in the month we set out to attend a family wedding in Adelaide; the COVID clouds were starting to gather, but we'd not yet understood what was coming. Only two days into the trip however border closures were being announced, so we spent a couple of gloriously peaceful and safe days in Lower Glenelg NP in south-western Victoria where we'd booked before turning for home and bunkering down. (More on that park here.)

 

Among many highlights here was another threatened bird species (though only in NSW, and not nearly as endangered as the earlier two species). 

Olive Whistler Pachycephala olivacea, Lower Glenelg NP.
I almost feel guilty that I took this photo while sitting at our campsite table!
This is a generally uncommon bird (as well as being shy and inconspicuous) scattered in
wetter forest habitats along the east coast.

APRIL

By now we were largely confined to home except for necessary outings such as
food shopping and exercise. Fortunately a walk around nearby Narrabunda Hill
came into that category. This photo (taken into the sun) of White-winged Choughs
Corcorax melanorhamphos, threatening us with white wings (usually hidden) and
bulging red eyes, is a memento of that time (and one of the very few photos I took in April).

 

MAY

Another local walk, this time at a site known informally as Bluetts Block.
A reminder of the resilience of nature; epicormic growth sprouting from the scorched
trunk of a Broad-leaved Peppermint Eucalyptus dives. The shoots under the bark
of most eucalypts are held in check by a hormonal block until the tree is
defoliated by fire (or insect attack etc), when the block is released and the leaves
sprout to enable photosynthesis until the crown reestablishes itself.
 

 

 

 

 

 

JUNE

Another reminder of the fires - this time of the vast, near-continuous east coast fires of
December and January. Xanthorrhoeas (or grass trees) sending up post-fire flowering spikes
in Jerrawangala NP near Nowra, south coast NSW.
At this stage we were spending a lot of time travelling to and from Nowra,
assisting with a family move to Canberra. Driving through the devastation
for scores of kilometres was tough, but scenes of recovery like this helped.
Xathorrhoeas often put up these spikes in the
winter or spring after a hot summer burn.

 

JULY

Snow Heath Woollsia pungens, Currarong (see February above if you skipped it!).
Back there for a few days in winter, I was surprised to see an unfamiliar heath plant flowering
along the walk - especially such a striking one. I needed some help but discovered that this heath,
with which I'm familiar but which normally has white flowers, has a population of
bright pink ones centred right on Currarong! I love the constant learning process.

AUGUST

Now was the time we were originally due to be taking a tour to Costa Rica. As compensation we planned a trip to somewhere else warm - Queensland. However two days before we left, that border too slammed shut. We were something of collateral damage - there'd been a flare-up of COVID in Sydney and, though the ACT had been free of cases for weeks, we were included for convenience. By now we couldn't leave NSW so instead we travelled around it - it was a cage, but a big and attractive one. And by now too the drought was finally ending, and we were swinging into the wet La Niña phase of the cycle. We'd intended to spend most of our time in the semi-arid western plains, but the rains continually drove us eastward and we eventually spent most of our time along the coast.

Australian Logrunner Orthonyx temminckii, Borganna Nature Reserve near Port Macquarie,
north coast New South Wales. These little rainforest birds live almost exclusively on the
ground where they scrape aside the leaf litter with powerful legs and feet, braced on
spiny tails. I find them to be very wary and I'd never managed to photograph one
until that afternoon. This one was entirely focused on its long struggle with
a determined big centipede and didn't mind (or didn't notice) being approached.

SEPTEMBER

Sydney Waratah Telopea speciosissima, Brisbane Water NP, Central Coast NSW.
Into September now and we were heading south towards home, but the flowers were
starting in earnest. And for me who didn't grow up with them, the spectacular
big heads of waratahs, containing dozens of individual flowers, always enthrall.

 OCTOBER

Back home, and with hip surgery looming for me, we took a few days off in the Blue Mountains late in October. Vast areas burnt last summer, but not everywhere, and the flowers were again excellent. As a result, so were the insects. I'm slipping in two photos (well three actually, but one's just a supplementary for clarification) for this month.

Masked Devil Cyclochila australasiae form spreta.
I'm a big fan of cicadas and this one - cold and wet, low down and easy to photograph! - is a beauty.
This species come in a bewildering array of colours and patterns, with a variety of names
accordingly. Yellow Monday, Chocolate Soldier, Greengrocer and Blue Moon all
refer to forms of this species.
And after some dry years with few cicadas, they're making up for it this summer!

 

This is a 'bucket list' photo for me. It's the first time I've managed to get an acceptable photo of
orchid pollination. This sawfly Lophyrotoma sp. has just pollinated a Flying Duck Orchid
Caleana major (unrecognisable in this photo because it's been 'triggered'; see next photo).
He was attracted by the flower's scent which mimics the pheromone of a female sawfly
(actually a wasp relation) and in his exertions the orchid has transferred the sticky
bundle of pollen (the 'pollinia') which he is wearing like a yellow saddle. The fabulous
feathery antennae can detect very low levels of the pheromones (real and fake).

 

A Flying Duck Orchid in its untriggered state. In the previous photo the 'head' on
a sensitive strap has been snapped downwards to force the sawfly against the
pollen presenter.

NOVEMBER

Because of the splendid spring this year, I put some effort into trying to track down as many orchid species as I could, especially around Canberra, with some success. I'll report in detail in a forthcoming blog post. This was the last one I saw before I went into hospital, and it gave me quite a degree of satisfaction because it's uncommon and I'd tried several times in a known site without success before a kind hint directed me to this small scattered colony well away from where I'd ever looked for it.

 

Black-tongue Caladenia C. congesta, Black Mountain, Canberra.
It is delightfully lurid, and the densely warty 'tongue' (or labellum)
is most impressive.

 

 DECEMBER

Finally two December photos, marking significant days for me. The first was taken on my first excursion (other than to the physio and doctor!) after getting out of hospital. We did a short slow walk in the National Botanic Gardens, where the butterflies were enjoying summer as much as we were.

Australian Painted Lady Vanessa kershawi on paper daisy, Xerochrysum sp.
This is a very common butterfly, but that's no reason not to admire it each time.
I love that we can see its uncoiled proboscis inserted into a tiny floret to extract
a drop of nectar.

And the other December photo was taken very recently, a couple of days after Christmas. This was another big day for me because it was the first time I'd been in the bush - essential for my well-being - since the operation five weeks previously. We drove (ie Lou drove!) up into the Brindabellas above Canberra; this was also significant because it was the first time we'd up into this very special Canberra back yard all year. As well as COVID issues, most of the park burnt in February, and the rest was closed for much of the year. I took lots of flower and insect photos, albeit somewhat awkwardly, and this one appeals to me.

 

Silver Snow Daisy Celmisia sp. with a couple of visitors.
I'm cautiously suggesting that the lovely coppery iridescent beetle is Eleale sp.
in the family Cleridae. This genus often visits flowers to eat nectar or pollen.
I hadn't even noticed its neighbour though until I processed the photo (in fact it had
just popped up and wasn't present in a photo taken three seconds earlier). To my
embarrassment, from front on I can't tell whether it's a spider or small grasshopper!

So, that's one version of my year, but even with the relative paucity of photos I could have shown you others. Perhaps I've prompted you to muse too on your year's natural history highlights - that can be a very satisfying and even therapeutic thing to do, especially in such stressful times.

Thank you reading this, and if you're a 'regular' reader I greatly appreciate that support. May 2021 be kinder to us all than 2020 has been, and may we still be able to be comforted and inspired by nature - and in turn may we start being better stewards than we've been in the past.

 

NEXT POSTING THURSDAY 14 JANUARY.
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