Orchids

I am not a good photographer of small plants: I suspect I don't use enough patience.

However the array or orchids below made me give it a try! They were shown to us by Jean Egan (one of the authors of the Field Guide to the Orchids of the ACT) on Black Mountain in Canberra. The P. nutans (in particular) were almost in 'carpet' numbers.









Bunochilus umbrinus











Pterostylis nutans














Corysanthes incurva
(with 'pixie hat lichen')




Acianthus collinus












The following image was taken on the nearby Gossan Hill. Each of these boring leaves should, if the rainfall gods are willing AND if there isn't a controlled burn, turn into a brilliant blue orchid.


Glossodia major

Comments

Denis Wilson said…
Hi Martin
Interesting to me that all your Orchids look familiar to me (living 200 Km away), but they all have different specific names from the ones I see here.
There must be a geological divide of so,me description (soil types, I mean, not altitude) which has allowed speciation to occur.
Of course, David Jones, ex-CSIRO and National Herbarium was a Canberra local, so he would have worked your area over very carefully. And as an Orchid taxonomist, he was fond of naming new species on the basis of differences which others do not necessarily think are significant. But I follow his namings.
I have seen no Corysanthes in flower this year, at all. A few buds, that's all.
Cheers
Denis
14 August 2009 at 22:05:00 GMT+10
Flabmeister said…
Denis

I wonder if the divide is of climate rather than soil? Driving back from Sydney I often find that there is a change in the weather somewhere between Goulburn and Marulan. For example: (1) it will rain all the way from Sydney and then be fine for the last 100km (2) going the other way there will be fog and frost for the first 100km and then suddenly clear.

Martin
15 August 2009 at 06:59:00 GMT+10
Denis Wilson said…
Hi Martin
.
You are certainly right about the weather divide there. I too have observed it many times (with frustration depending upon which way one is going, and if you want it to rain, or to stop raining).
.
There is of course, a transition in geology around that area.
Sydney Sandstone to the north.
Very mixed geology around Marulan and Bungonia..
Granite belt around Goulburn.
Decomposed (old yellow) Granite soils around Goulburn itself, and south from Lake George.
.
What I intended was to rule out altitude as a likely issue, as the Southern Highlands are just as high as the Southern Tablelands.
.
Cheers
Denis
15 August 2009 at 14:01:00 GMT+10
Denis Wilson said…
Hi Martin
.
I have posted my Bunochilus longifolius images today, and linked back to your post.
.
Cheers
Denis
22 August 2009 at 01:24:00 GMT+10
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