Tag: Spiranthes alticola

2017 February Winning Picture

1702 sm CC Cryptostylis subulata

The first competition for the year followed a wet orchid theme with three of the orchids being South Australian swamp orchids and the fourth from Western Australia; though not a swamp dweller, it grows in shallow moist soil.

The outstanding winner was Claire Chesson’s Cryptostylis subulata, followed by Robert Lawrence’s Spiranthes alticola, Rosalie Lawrence’s Pterostylis falcata and Pauline Meyer’s Thelymitra villosa.

Known to South Australian’s as the Moose Orchid, elsewhere it is either Large Tongue Orchid or Cow Orchid. This tall (40 to 110 cms) evergreen orchid is common in the eastern states where it is commonly found in damp areas as well as swamps. but in South Australia it is limited to swamps and is rated as endangered.

Leo Davis makes some interesting observations about the structure of this flower in his article Upside Upside Down which is well worth reading (https://nossa.org.au/2017/03/03/upside-upsisdedown/).

Whilst not an easy orchid to grow it has been cultivated although seed set has not always occurred. Helen Richards, an experienced Victorian terrestrial orchid grower, shared in an email how she grows them.

“Cryptostylis species grow from brittle rhizomes which can be quite long and they resent frequent disturbance. Mine are potted into a pot therefore that is large enough for the long roots and which will accommodate further growth for several years. My mix is ANOS basic mix, the same as I use for Pterostylis and many other genera. They need to be kept moist all year round, especially in summer when they flower and new leaves appear, their active growing period. I grow them in an area of moderate light. Others have seen pollinators active on the flowers but I haven’t. However seed capsules frequently develop without my assistance with a toothpick. Richard Thomson says they haven’t had success germinating the seed.”

Reference

https://nossa.org.au/2017/03/03/upside-upsisdedown/

http://bie.ala.org.au/species/http://id.biodiversity.org.au/name/apni/89052

http://saseedbank.com.au/species_information.php?rid=1288

Personal communications Helen Richards (OAM), Chairman Australian Orchid Foundation

Bates, R. J., ed. (2011). South Australian Native Orchids. Electronic version, 2011. NOSSA

The other entries :

1702 sm RWL Spiranthes alticola

1702 sm RAL Pterostylis falcata

1702 sm PM Thelymitra villosa

Spiranthes alticola

At this time of the year there are not many orchids flowering in South Australia but one that is just finishing is Spiranthes alticola. The genus Spiranthes, commonly known as Ladies Tresses, is found throughout Australia, Eurasisa and the Americas.The following description is an extract from South Australia’s Native Orchids 2011 DVD which is available from the Native Orchid Society of South Australi. 

Spiranthes alticola D.L.Jones

Swamp Spiral Orchid

Etymology: The name alticola means high dweller, referring to its distribution in Eastern Australia, in west Victoria and South Australia’s South East.  It also grows near sea level.

Synonyms: Previously included in Neottia australis R. Br., S. sinensis (Pers.) Ames and S. australis R.Br.

 

 

ASCII

(These two pictures show the variation in colour.)

Description: Leaves 3-5, narrow lanceolate, shiny, erect at the base, to 15 cm long. Flower stem to 45 cm tall, slender, flexible, with several sheathing bracts.  The flowers are numerous in a dense spiral, pink with a white labellum, rarely all white.  Segments are 6-10 mm long, sepals somewhat triangular, petals lanceolate, together forming a short tube, the tips free and recurved, and the lateral sepals divergent.  Labellum with a broad, decurved crisped, pellucid mid-lobe, side-lobes erect small.  The flowers are faintly fragrant.

spiranthes-alticola-leavesrwl-92

(Leaves of Spiranthes alticola)

Flowering: Dec – Jan – Feb.

Similar Species: S. australis, S. sp. Late selfing-white.

Distribution: SL, KIx, SE; NSW, Vic, Tas.

Confined in South Australia to a few high rainfall, near coastal, often mountain locations, southward from the Adelaide Hills in the Southern Lofty region, extinct on Kangaroo Island, (one record only), and South East; also in New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania.

Habitat: Restricted to peaty bogs and swampy creek-sides, often in locations that are inundated throughout winter; in some areas surviving in paddocks grazed by stock.

Distinguishing Features:  S. australis, which is from the eastern states and is not strictly a swamp plant, has smaller darker pink flowers with a narrow labellum.

  • The two South Australian forms treated here are regarded as distinct species as where they are sympatric they begin flowering at different times and do not intergrade. S. alticola is the more delicate of the two.

Notes:  The best specimens are found on mowed firebreaks adjacent to swamps.  When vegetative reproduction produces two clonal plants next to each other the spiral arrangement of one is often a mirror image of the other.  See Gallery.

Native bee pollinators work the spikes from the bottom upward but as the stigma becomes receptive well after the pollinia have matured this mechanism helps ensure outcrossing.

Plants do well in cultivation if kept moist over summer.

Conservation Status:

Status in Legislation: Not listed nationally, rare in South Australia.

Suggested Status: Rare in South Australia but more common in the Eastern States

 

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