An important first lesson to learn when out orchid hunting is to watch where you put your feet. In this video the Orchid Hunter explains the how and why for watching where you step.
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Protect Our Orchids – Stay On the Path
Author: nossaorchids
Delicate Dwellers in a Harsh Environment
“So fair, so sweet withal so sensitive,
Would that the little flowers were born to live,
Conscious of half the pleasure which they give”
I found this quote of Samuel Taylor Coleridge in A Collection of Australian Wildflower Illustrations by Patricia Weare 1984. The only text for the painting’s section were for identification but at the end of the Orchid section there was this one poem. It was appropriately placed as one could easily substitute the word orchids for flowers.
“So fair, so sweet withal so sensitive,
Would that the little orchids were born to live,
Conscious of half the pleasure which they give”
The exquisite paintings of Patricia Weare combined with this quote do homage to these dainty plants of our Australian bush. It is a reminder that though at times it can be seen as harsh, there is in these jewels a hidden delicateness and gentleness of the bushland.
Australian Orchids & the Doctors they Commemorate Part 10 of 20
Charles Brightly Prentice (1820 – 1894)
A Brisbane surgeon, naturalist and botanical collector, a member of the Medical Board of Queensland, and an expert on Australian ferns.
Orchid Species:
Synonyms: Dendrobium prenticei, Davejonesia prenticei
Australian Orchids & the Doctors they Commemorate Part 9 of 20
Hans Herman Behr (1818 – 1904)
A physician, botanist, entomologist, lepidopterist, poet, writer, humourist and linguist.
Orchid species: Arachnorhis behrii Synonym: Caladenia behrii
Bananas Trigger Flowering of Orchids
Some native terrestrial orchids only flower in the season after a bushfire. They are stimulated by the hot gases given off during the fire. One of those gases is ethylene. Bananas are shipped down from Queensland to the southern states of Australia as green bananas to stop fruit fly outbreaks. On arrival they are put in sealed rooms and exposed to ethylene gas. The bananas ripen a few days later. Traces of ethylene remain in the banana skin. Overripe fruit also emits ethylene gas. Orchid flowers do not last long if ethylene is present in a closed glasshouse.
We know that dormant tubers exposed to ethylene often flower the next season. The best example is the Hare orchid Leptoceras menziesii. In summer I put dormant tubers in a small dish in a plastic bag with a banana skin and seal the bag with a rubber band. The skin may go mouldy so should not touch the tubers. I leave the bag inside my shed for about 2 weeks then remove the tubers and pot them up. The exposed plants make leaves almost twice as large as normal tuber leaves. This procedure should not be carried out with the same plants the following year as they may get exhausted and die out. I have found results with other shy flowering species are not so reliable. Maybe they need a stronger does of ethylene.
Article by Les Nesbit
Vol 38 No 5 June 2014
NOSSA Journal
July 2014 Winning Photograph
A photograph of a yellow sun orchid is July’s winning photograph and was taken by John Badger.
It is not difficult to identify a yellow sun orchid because amongst all of the Australian Thelymitras there are only two true yellow sun orchids. These are Thelymitra antennifera and the less common and very different, smaller T. flexuosa.
T. antennifera has a distinctive column with two reddish brown appendages resembling rabbit’s ears henc the connom name of Rabbit Ears Sun Orchid. Another common name Lemon Sun Orchid refers to the faint but recognisable lemon scent produced by the flower but as to why it should ever have been singled out from the other sun orchids to be called Women’s Caps1, I cannot tell.
Prior to flowering, the leaf distinguishes this sun orchid from others. Though having a red base like some of the other sun orchid, it is thin and rounded ie filiform and terete. Further, the closed buds are dark pink with lemon yellow margins of the sepals.
It should be noted that both T. carnea and T. rubra can on rare occasions produce a pale yellow variety but they will have all the features of their respective species. Also a T antennifera hybrid, T. x macmillanii, can on occasions produce yellow flowers.
References
- R. Bates (2011) South Australia’s Native Orchids DVD
- David L. Jones (2006) A Complete Guide to Native Orchids of Australia
- 1The Australian Zoologist 1945 – 1951 Vol II Issued by the Royal Zoological Society of NSW http://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/39059910#page/7/mode/1up accessed 1st August 2014
Australian Orchids & the Doctors they Commemorate Part 8 of 20
Edwin Daintrey (1814-1887)
A medical student who abandoned his medical career just before graduation; he emigrated to Sydney, where he practised as a solicitor, cofounded the Linnean Society of New South Wales, and was appointed honorary secretary of the Australian Library in Bent Street.
Orchid species: Pterostylis daintreana
Australian Orchids and the Doctors they Commemorate Part 7 of 20
Robert Brown (1773 -1858)
A Scottish-born and Edinburgh-trained surgeon, doctor-soldier, and the father of Australian botany; he was awarded the Copley Medal in 1839, then the world’s highest accolade in science.
Orchid species: Elythranthera brunonis (= Glossodia brunonis)
Australian Orchids and the Doctors they Commemorate Part 6 of 20
Archibald Menzies (1754 – 1842)
A British navy surgeon who circumnavigated the globe from west to east with Captain George Vancouver, in the tumultuous voyage of 1791 to 1974, explored extensively in south-west Western Australia, and was later president of the Linnean Society of London; his name is recorded in the names of banksias (including the firewood Banksia [Banksia menziesii]), orchids and mosses of the King George Sound hinterland which record his service to Australian botany.
Orchid species: Leptoceras menziesii (=Caladenia menziesii)
This orchid is the emblem of Native Orchid Society of South Australia
Australian Orchids and the Doctors they Commemorate Part 5 of 20
Having looked at the background, Professor Pearn documents the individual doctors and orchids. In the original paper the doctors were listed alphabetically but these posts will be in chronological order based upon the doctor’s year of birth.
Daniel Solander (1733 – 1782)
A medical student in Sweden and London, and botanist-librarian on the Endeavour voyage to Austalia (1769 – 1771); his name is commemorated in the names of Australian species of Aciacia, Banksia and Geraniums.
Orchid species: Orthoceras strictum (= Orthoceras solandri)
The type specimen is from New Zealand.
NOSSA 