Christmas Bells

Christmas Bells
Christmas Bells - Blandfordia nobilis
Showing posts with label Glossodia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Glossodia. Show all posts

Saturday, August 24, 2013

Orchids from Nowra and Cambewarra Mountain

This morning I rang Alan Stephenson to check on the weather in Nowra.
We have had such cold, windy weather in Robbo that I was very uncertain that it was going to be worthwhile making the trip down to the Shoalhaven. But Alan assured me it was warm and sunny,

I am glad I went, for I found a number of interesting Orchids.



Hymenochilus bicolor
Formerly Pterostylis bicolor
Growing in Nowra Cemetery


Prasophyllum elatum
These plants on Leebold Hill
have green leaves and
black flower stems.
The buds are just visible,
They come out creamy colour.


Pterostylis erecta


Speculantha vernalis
This spring flowered species
of Speculantha

is distinct from the regular
summer and autumn flowered species.
Alan Stephenson has persuaded
the Federal Authorities

to list it as Critically Endangered
because it is so highly localised.



The epiphytic form of the
Sydney Rock Orchid
it grows so high in trees on
Cambewarra Mountain

that it is very hard
for me to photograph.

You can just make out
the long flower sprays.

Thelychiton epiphyticus



Dockrillia pugioniformis
Petalochilus alatus
Fairy Caladenia
This tiny Caladenia
is very sweet, but hard to find
and harder to photograph properly.

 An unusual magenta colour form of Glossodia minor

beside a regular colour form on right
Glossodia minor













Thursday, September 01, 2011

Blue and Purple Orchid flowers

These Orchids were all flowering together, under a very wide powerline easement, south-west from Nowra, last weekend. It was a wonderful display.

For me, the thrill was to get nice specimens of Cyanicula caerulea I have only seen one specimen of this plant before.  
Cyanicula caerulea
The name is meant to refer to the flower being "sky blue", which is a bit off the mark, to my eyes. But it is still a lovely flower. It was originally classed as a "Caladenia" which is entirely understandable.
Labellum and column of Cyanicula caerulea.
This lovely flower is a slightly mutant form of Glossodia major also known as the Waxlip Orchid. This species is very variable in colour, with many specimens being spotted, as this one is. Alan Stephenson has photographed pure white specimens, but I have never seen such a form. The prominent V-shaped labellum is diagnostic.
A spotted form of Glossodia minor

Normally Glossodia minor is a very small flower, on a stem about100mm tall. The preceding species is twice as high. However, this plant was about 150 mm high and nearly as wide in flower as the larger species. Was it a hybrid between the two?
Glossodia minor - a large specimen, possibly a hybrid.
This plant always has two strange little glands jutting out in front of the column. Click to enlarge the image above, to see that detail.


Sunday, August 14, 2011

Ulladulla springs to life.

For many months, since reading Benj Whitworth's postings on the Canberra Ornithologists Group forum about the joys of discovering the plants and birds of Ulladulla, I have wanted to explore the Reserves there. 
My friend Kirsten, who grew up in that area, kindly showed me around several of the Reserves there, yesterday.

There are several excellent Reserves at Ulladulla (on the coast 45 minutes driving time, south from Nowra).
Having done a considerable circuit at the Wildflower Reserve, we adjourned (via the excellent Hayden's Pies) to the South Pacific Heathland Reserve, This is just along Dowling Street, behind the Ex-Servicemen's Club which is on the Pacific Highway, on the southern end of Ulladulla. (see linked map for both Reserve locations)

The first place we visited is known as the Wildflower Reserve. At first it seemed to be a fairly uninviting patch of coastal forest. Kirsten will kill me for that comment. But there were many interesting plants there, especially leaves of Acianthus, Corybas and the related Nemacianthus - all tiny Ground Orchids -   (upon close examination of the forest floor). 
We saw lots of birds, most especially a mixed feeding flock of Silvereyes, Brown Thornbills and Wrens, with Pardalotes and Yellow-faced Honeyeaters in the canopy above, in the Wildflower Reserve.

Kirsten photographing a very thin-leaved Acacia.
It is possibly Acacia elongata (but I am no Acacia expert)
Acacia elongata (possibly)
Click to see the ribbed stems and 3 flowers coming from each leaf axil.
That species (A. elongata) looks right to me.
Compare this image from the Bega Valley area.

Sprays of Comesperma volubile were draped over many shrubs

 This was an unexpected bonus.
Waxlip Orchid - Glossodia major
Glossodia major just opening up.
Believe it or not, this was what I had been hoping to see.
Well, hopefully a fresh flower - but this dried flower is still identifiable
because of the long filamentous tips on the sepals.
It is the Mayfly Orchid, Nemacianthus caudatus
Long filamentous tips on the sepals of Nemacianthius caudatus are still evident.
One of the identifying features, apart from the long sepals,
is the brilliant red underleaf.
Underleaf of Nemacianthus caudatus

But there were hundreds of birds in the South Pacific Heathland Reserve too.
Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos.
They love the Casuarinas and Banksias in the Heathland Reserve .
Head of Black Cockatoo seen on top of low Casuarina bushes
New Holland Honeyeaters (3) in Casuarina above Grevillea bush.
And now to some of the more obvious flowers
from the wonderful South Pacific Heathland Reserve.

These Correa reflexa plants were prominent in this Reserve.
The flowers were very fat (I think so anyway).

This is the very pretty (but small) flower of Eucalyptus sieberi
It is known as the Silver-top Ash.

Pimelea linifolia
A young flower head of the NSW Waratah (Telopea speciosissima)
Telopea speciosissima
 The sweet honey-smell of the Wedding Bush 
was almost overwhelming in places where these plants were growing.
Ricinocarpos pinifolius
Further to our finding the large Waxlip Orchid in the first reserve
in a moss bed in the Heathland Reserve we found a colony of
the Small Waxlip Orchid Glossodia minor 
Click on the image to see the diagnostic dark double "calli"
on the labellum.

Here is a loose colony
on a moss bed.
If you expand the image (click)
you will see the flat hairy leaves of these plants.
Glossodia minor in a moss bed
Here is a local favourite at Ulladulla - the rare Grevillea macleayana
It was previously known as Grevillea barklyana subsp. macleayana
It is referred to by PlantNET as the Jervis Bay Grevillea.
It has the classic "Toothbrush Grevillea" flower structure.
 
Grevillea macleayana
Probably my favourite image of Grevillea macleayana. 
It shows why it is so popular with the local Honeyeaters and Wattlebirds.
There is a lrge bead of nectar which has leaked out from the flower.
It shows how rich these plants are in nectar.
A bead of nectar visible in the flower of Grevillea macleayana

Here is one of the surprises of our trip
Lyperanthus suaveolens  - the so-called "Brown Beaks" Orchid.
Close-up of Lyperanthus suaveolens
Full stem of Lyperanthus suaveolens
Pigeonhouse Mountain
Whenever I glimpse this mountain (always in the distance)
I am reminded that it was named by Captain James Cook in 1770.
A symbol of our earliest European conquest (and place naming).
My good friend James, believe it ought be called Nipple Mountain.

I wrote that before I checked for the Aboriginal name.
"Didhol or Dithol" which means 
Woman's Breast on account
of the distinctive shape of the mountain. 
(according to Wikipedia)
Pigeonhouse Mountain in the distant hinterland behind Ulladulla.

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Glossodia major

Here is the matching partner to yesterday's blog.
Glossodia major - the Waxlip Orchid.


Forgive this brief Blog posting, but I am rushing out for a while. But I could not resist matching yesterday's posting with this plant I found two weeks ago at Thirlmere Lakes (where I am going as soon as I finish this post).
A nice tall stem, about 20 cm high
with two flowers.
Well deserving the title "major".

Here is the flower, more or less as one sees it with the natural eye.
And here is is through the Macro Lens.
Please click on the image to see it fully.
Note the densely embossed white patch on the labellum.
It is in fact covered with very densely set fibres.
Above the Labellum there is a yellow protruding callus with two lobes
giving it a Y shaped form.
The top part of this illustration is the bright yellow object
you can see clearly in the image above (if you clicked it).

This is completely different from the two lumps
on the labellum of yesterday's plant.

I was fortunate to find this plant when the sun was dull, (behind clouds).
It can be so shiny, (reflective) in full sun that it is hard to photograph
without getting massive patches of reflected light.
Frequently one has to stand over the plant
to photograph it in one's own shadow - it can be that shiny.

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Glossodia minor

This tiny blue-purple Orchid has started to flower down along Tourist Road, in Kangaloon. Such tiny flowers - I love them.

The name Glossodia minor means: "big-tongue orchid - (small one)". The official common name is "Small Wax-lip Orchid".
There is of course, a Glossodia major.

Here is one plant with my camera lens cap for scale
It happens to be growing out of a patch of old wood chips
dumped on the ground.
I usually use flash when taking close-up shots of Orchids - to get light inside the flower. It can cause distortions in colour, however. And few colours are as susceptible to colour distortion as these purple-blue flowers.
This is not a new phenomenon, as I remember my father complaining about colour reproduction on film (slides) for native plants, back in Melbourne, which dates my memory of that discussion back to pre-1959. Of course, he was talking about good old fashioned slides - way back before digital photograph was ever imagined. But we still have the same trouble.

I have done my best to show these plants as close as possible to their natural colours.
Here they are growing in their grassy habitat
on very poor yellow clay soil.
Even here, you can see a colour variation,
which I assume is to do with the age of the flowers.
Two of these little Glossodia flower growing side by side.
I assume that the one on the left, which is showing more purple
is in fact a fresher flower than the one on the right.
I have not adjusted the colour of this shot in any way.
Finally a portrait of a nice flower.
The colour is a little too bright.
But I wanted you to be able to see the details of the flower.
Click to enlarge the image.
The two "dogs balls" glands are scent glands
which attract pollinators to the flower.
If you enlarged the image you will know why
I have described those glands as I did.

Sunday, September 27, 2009

Two species of Glossodia (Waxlip Orchids)

Here are images of the Small Waxlip Orchid (Glossodia minor), and the more familiar large Waxlip Orchid (Glossodia major). One is a size comparison image of both species - with my fingers as the scale bar.

Firstly, let me say that it has been a very dry spring this year, in Kangaloon (near Robertson) where most of these images were taken. As a result, these Small Waxlip Orchids were very small (even for this species). They were growing in nearly bare patches of ground, in very poor yellowish clay soil, over sandstone. The trees nearby are mostly Scribbly Gums - which tells you something of the poor soil quality. The Orchid stems were less than 2 inches (50mm approx) tall. These Orchids make the small "Dusky Finger" Orchids I have shown recently, to seem "tall" by comparison. Their flowers are a little larger (wider) but they are still small plants.
Here is a macro image, to show the detail of the flower.
Click to enlarge to see the pair of "dog's ball" glands on the labellum.
Pardon the crude reference, but these paired glands are very distinctive.
Here is the first of the two finger scale images.
Here, for comparison is Glossodia major
with the same two fingers for scale.
Here is the composite image of the two species, with my fingers for scale. If anything, the image on the right is still slightly larger than it ought be
- as you can judge by the finger comparisons.
This is as close to real size as I can manage.
You can see that the Glossodia major is approximately 50% larger than
its smaller cousin.
The colour difference is real, not apparent,
as can also be judged by my fingers.
Glossodia major is clearly more blue,
whereas Glossodia minor is much more purplish.
*****
Finally, for a further comparison of the difference in these species here is another image of the labellum and column of Glossodia major.
Contrast those internal structures with the first image (above).
This was taken at Black Mountain (Canberra).
This image is deliberately taken nearly at ground level, to see the flower, from an insect's eye level, and to show the "active" parts of the flower
- the column and the cover over the pollinia.
Note how "hairy" the stem is on this species (click to enlarge).
*****
I will repeat a point I made a few days ago, that any beauty we see in these Orchid flowers is purely incidental to the function of the flower - which is to achieve pollination. As the normal pollinators of Orchids are insects, I usually try to take an "insect's eye" shot of these flowers.
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