Journal of the Native Orchid Society of South Inc

Thelymitra

Print Post Approved .Volume 32 Nº 10 PP 543662/00018 November 2008 NATIVE ORCHID SOCIETY OF PO BOX 565 UNLEY SA 5061

www.nossa.org.au.

The Native Orchid Society of South Australia promotes the conservation of orchids through the preservation of natural habitat and through cultivation. Except with the documented official representation of the management committee, no person may represent the Society on any matter. All native orchids are protected in the wild; their collection without written Government permit is illegal.

PRESIDENT SECRETARY Bill Dear: Cathy Houston Telephone 8296 2111 mob. 0413 659 506 telephone 8356 7356 Email: [email protected] VICE PRESIDENT Bodo Jensen

COMMITTEE Bob Bates Thelma Bridle John Bartram John Peace

EDITOR TREASURER David Hirst Marj Sheppard 14 Beaverdale Avenue Telephone 8344 2124 Windsor Gardens SA 5087 0419 189 188 Telephone 8261 7998 Email: [email protected]

LIFE MEMBERS Mr R. Hargreaves† Mr. L. Nesbitt Mr H. Goldsack† Mr G. Carne Mr R. Robjohns† Mr R Bates Mr J. Simmons† Mr R Shooter Mr D. Wells† Mr W Dear

Conservation Officer: Thelma Bridle Registrar of Judges: Les Nesbitt Field Trips Coordinator: Bob Bates 83429247 or 0402 291 904 or [email protected] Trading Table: Judy Penney Tuber bank Coordinator: Jane Higgs ph. 8558 6247; email: [email protected] New Members Coordinator: John Bartram ph: 8331 3541; email: [email protected]

PATRON Mr L. Nesbitt

The Native Orchid Society of South Australia, while taking all due care, take no responsibility for loss or damage to any whether at shows, meetings or exhibits.

Views or opinions expressed by authors of articles within this Journal do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of the management committee. We condone the reprint of any articles if acknowledgment is given

Journal Cost $2. per issue. Family or Single Membership with subscription $20.00* *Postal Mail full year $20.00. Email full year $15.00. Pro-rata rates for third quarter $10.00 and last quarter $5.00 Students $10.00 per year. Juniors $5.00

Front cover from an original drawing by Jane Hutchinson. Used with her kind permission. JOURNAL OF THE NATIVE ORCHID SOCIETY OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA INC.

NOVEMBER 2008 VOL. 32 NO 10

CONTENTS THIS JOURNAL

Title Author Page

Diary Dates 85 October Meeting 86 Sarchochilus Show Summary Reg Shooter 87 For Your Information – NOSSA News 87 How it is Done Reg Shooter 88 Terrestrial Tips – November Les Nesbitt 89 Spring Visit to Mt Lofty Gardens: NOSSA trip report 2008 R. Bates 90 Some of the things I’ve learnt about Terrestrial Orchids Helen Lawrence 91 The library of the Swiss Orchid Foundation at the Herbarium Jany Renz 94

The Native Orchid Society of South Australia meets every 4th Tuesday of the months February -November

NEXT MEETING 25 NOVEMBER 2008 Tuesday, 25 November, St Matthew's Hall, Bridge Street, Kensington. Meeting starts at 8:00 p.m. Doors to the hall will be open from 7:15 p.m. to allow Members access to the Library and trading table. The guest speaker for the meeting is Justin Priddy from Queensland to share his experience with Australian Cymbidiums, followed by the Christmas Supper. Bring a plate to share.

DIARY DATES

November meeting Justin Priddy; Xmas Supper 30 November Xmas BBQ February 2009 first meeting for 2009 May 2009 AGM

NEXT COMMITTEE MEETING Tues, 3rd December at the home of Bodo Jensen. Meeting commences at 7:30 p.m. OCTOBER MEETING PLANTS BENCHED

Epiphyte species: Dendrobium kingianum (4 plants); Den. monophyllum; Dockrillia striolata; Dock. shoenina

Epiphyte hybrids: Dendrobium Mini Spec; Den. x Delicatum.

Terrestrial species: Caladenia tentaculata; Chiloglottis aff. formicifera; drummondii; Diuris laxiflora; Pterostylis falcata 'Orchidhaven'; Pterostylis baptistii.

Terrestrial hybrids: Diuris drummondii x aurea; Diuris Mule; x brevifolia; Diuris hybrid; Pterostylis Cutie x baptistii.

Judging Results Grower Epiphyte species 1st Dockrillia shoenina Wally Walloscheck 2nd Dendrobium kingianum Wally Walloscheck 3rd Dendrobium monophyllum Les Nesbitt

Epiphyte hybrid 1st Dendrobium Mini Spec Bodo Jensen 2nd Dendrobium x Delicatum R Job & E Viskic No 3rd

Terrestrial species 1st Caladenia tentaculata Les Nesbitt 2nd Diuris drummondii L. & R. Gunn 3rd Pterostylis baptistii Jane & Don Higgs

Terrestrial hybrids 1st Diuris hybrid Les Nesbitt 2nd Pterostylis Cutie x baptistii Jane & Don Higgs 3rd Diuris Mule Les Nesbitt

Popular vote results Epiphyte species Dendrobium monophyllum Les Nesbitt Epiphyte hybrid Dendrobium Mini Spec Bodo Jensen Terrestrial species Pterostylis baptistii Jane & Don Higgs Terrestrial hybrid Pterostylis Cutie x baptistii Jane & Don Higgs

Plant of the night Caladenia tentaculata Les Nesbitt

Commentary on terrestrials given by Les Nesbitt & epiphytes by Noel Oliver.

86 show Summary

In addition to our normal benching a special Sarcochilus show was mounted. This was very well patronised with 54 hybrids & 10 species Sarcochilus exhibited. The successful 1st prize winners were; Robert & Lesley Gunn with Sarco. hartmannii, Sarco. fitzgeraldi & best species specimen with Sarc. hartmannii. M & L Guy with Hybrid specimen with Sarco. Wandjina x hartmannii & Rhinochilus Lava Burst. Judy Penny won with a white Sarco. fitzgeraldii The most successful winners were Pauline & Mark Hockey with 5 winners; Sarco. Dots x (Heidi x Jewel), Sarco. First Light x Hot Ice, Sarco. Burgundy Ice, Sarco. Perky & Sarco. Heidi x spathulatus. The Grand Champion of the Show was a beautiful mounted specimen of Sarcochilus falcatus exhibited by Steve Howard.

Reg Shooter

FOR YOUR INFORMATION - NOSSA NEWS

TUBER BANK

Tubers (or, at this stage, promise of prospective tubers) are urgently needed for the Tuber Bank. Could you please let me know if you will have any, and what they are, as soon as possible, so that I can compile a list before December. Thank you. Contact details are as follows:- Jane Higgs Phone no. 08 85586247 P.O. Box 134 MYPONGA. S.A. 5202 email: [email protected]

Judges Award for the best orchid displayed at monthly meetings in 2008 went to Cymbidium canaliculatum ‘Murray Bridge’ grown by John & Bev Gay.

Next Judges Meeting - will be on Saturday 6th December at 9.30am at Les Nesbitts.

Plant of the month next meeting to be any Australian Cymbidium species whether in flower or not.

ARTICLES/ITEMS FOR THE NEXT JOURNAL Closing date is Friday 5th December

87 Christmas BBQ

As last year the Xmas BBQ will be held at the home of Wally and Shirley Walloscheck’s at Cherry Gardens.

Sunday 30th November; 11:30 am

NOSSA will be providing the meat.

Please bring A salad or dessert to share and $2.00 donation

Also bring a chair, folding table, plates, eating utensils and drinks inc. tea-bags, coffee, milk & sugar. Hot water will be provided.

Christmas raffle and Supper

The Annual Christmas raffle will be drawn at the November meeting. Bring a plate of food to share at the Xmas supper. This is the last meeting for 2008.

NEW MEMBERS A warm welcome from NOSSA Committee to new members Deborah Furbank of Marion Bay; Ms Judith Griffin of Flagstaff Hill; Eric Nesbitt from Vale Park and P & R Watts.

Library Books – the Committee requests that all Library books be returned before the end of November, i.e. at our final meeting 25th November. Thank you.

Orchid CD’s available

1: Western Australian Orchids first edition 2008 2: Orchids of South Australia second edition 2008. Proceeds are shared between NOSSA and AOF. Postage. The CD mailer comes in two sizes; large, which will hold 2 CD’s, is $1.45 and the slim mailer for a single CD is $1.00. Add to the cost of your mailer a postage cost of $1.10.

88 How it is Done Reg Shooter

The Sarcochilus is a truly Australian Native Orchid. It consists of about twelve to thirteen species all endemic to this continent. In general they flower later in the year than the majority of Aussie natives, around late September to late November. A couple of exceptions are Sarcochilus ceciliae that flowers right through from late October to March & Sarco. falcatus that can flower as early as June right through to October. With a couple of exceptions the species are easy to grow and flower, the hybrids are even easier. In the main they are cool growing orchids. In their native habitat they inhabit cool humid gullies and cool rainforests.

One of the easiest species to grow is Sarco hartmannii. In SA it grows quite happily in squat pots containing fairly coarse, free draining compost, it is important to have a free draining compost as this species, like most of the Sarcos, are intolerant of wet feet and the thick fleshy roots will quickly rot if they remain wet for any length of time. They are not heavy feeders and one or two doses of a weak Australian Native Orchid fertilizer two or three times during the growing season is usually sufficient. Given good treatment with plenty of humid air movement this species can be grown into a specimen size plant that lives for a long time in a healthy condition.

This species has been used extensively in riplicate both with other species from the Sarcochilus genus and with many other genera such as the Australian genera Rhinerrhiza, Plectorrhiza, Pomatocalpa & the exotic genera Phalaenopsis, Ascocentrum, Renanthera & Vanda. Producing some really outstanding hybrids that are quite easy to grow and flower. Evidence of this was to be seen at the Sarcochilus show mounted at the recent October meeting of NOSSA.

Terrestrial Tips – November Les Nesbitt

Summer usually starts in Adelaide at the end of the first week in November. After that it requires daily watering to keep terrestrial pots moist. If plants are, or are going, dormant it is best to stop watering and let the pots dry out to shrivel up last season’s tubers. Otherwise the old tubers could go mushy and mouldy and infect the new tuber. If we get warm weather and thunderstorms for a few consecutive days it will pay to cover terrestrial pots with plastic or move them out of the rain to prevent tuber rot.

Pull out the old dry flowering stems of Diuris and Thelymitra. The dry stems collect water when you use the hose and direct it down onto the top of the tubers. This can rot out the dormant eye and then you have a nice tuber that will never grow. Push the soil down to seal the hole left by the stem as extra insurance. Bitter experience has taught me to repot first those terrestrials that have large tubers and are slow multipliers such as Diuris behrii, Lyperanthus suaveolens and Thelymitra nuda.

The swamp orchids will have to be kept moist as they flower this month. An example is Diuris drummondii. Diuris punctata leaves will stay green until December if pots are not allowed to dry out. This species is not very drought tolerant and should be given a little water throughout summer.

Phaius tankervilleae will flower this month. Stand this evergreen Qld swamp orchid in a saucer of water for the summer and shade the broad leaves from the late afternoon sun. They are making new shoots and can be fertilised all summer. They do not mind a muddy

89 compost but never let the pot dry out or the roots will die. They like it in the shadehouse in summer under 70% shade.

Another similar looking evergreen terrestrial is Calanthe riplicate, the Xmas orchid. This orchid grows in leaf litter in shady protected gullies near creeks in NSW and Qld. Flower spikes are developing now. Keep this plant heavily shaded and cool. In a heat wave the white buds will go black and drop off. An evaporative cooler is needed in Adelaide to flower this plant successfully. Bring it inside when the temperature exceeds 34’C.

Spring Visit to Mt Lofty Gardens: NOSSA trip report 2008 R. Bates

This morning’s excursion on October 7th was attended by seven NOSSA members who met at the top gate Mt Lofty Summit Road, believing the gates opened at 10am only to find that they had opened at 8.30. Considering the temperature was 6 degrees, with wind blown mist it was lucky we had not met earlier. We headed down the Viburnum track and were greeted by numerous king spider orchids Arachnorchis tentaculata on the bank above the road and right down to the bitumen, some double headers. Mixed among them were bulldog orchids Diuris orientis in full bloom and scattered Glossodia. It took just 5 minutes to reach our search area, a large, slashed, wildflower and lily- smothered slope under messmate gums. There were several hundred donkey orchids from black and white to brown and cream, some with ten flowers on a stem; surely a record. Among them were many colonies of D. orientis. Helen found the first hybrids between the two donkey orchid species, and what a range there was in these. Rosalie organised for them to be photographed. A surprising flash of pink turned out to be a colony of Petalochilus carneus and hidden among the grasses and lilies many tiny greenhoods, Pterostylis pedunculata and Linguella nana. The number of sun orchids surprised us and although too cold for them to open we could easily determine the species: white buds meant Thelymitra albiflora, pink buds were T. rubra, short red leaves with mauve buds meant T. brevifolia, very narrow leaves with tiny bluish flowers were T. pauciflora, maroon striped bases to the leaf meant T. juncifolia, long bracts on tall stems meant T. bracteata. We hoped we could return the following Sunday when the temperature was forecast at 33 degrees so we could catch them wide open as some species we were unsure of. There were many leaves of Microtis, probably 2-3 species in bud and old seed pods on the Dipodium. We checked a NOSSA journal of 2002 and found that they had seen quite different species that year including Thelymitra luteocilium and Eriochilus. Twenty minutes after arriving we returned to the car park satisfied that we had easily beaten the 2002 trip list and only took 20 minutes to do it! It was a timely reminder, that although 99% of the state was dry at Mt Lofty the ground was damp and the orchids were of record size. Perhaps in 50 years Mt Lofty will have the last surviving orchids in SA. There will definitely be another October morning trip to The Gardens in 2009 and we will spend longer in an attempt to better today results.

90 Some of the things I’ve learnt about Terrestrial Orchids

Australian Terrestrial Orchids are mainly found in the southern parts of Australia in grasslands, heath land, and sparser forests including eucalyptus forests. This picture to the left, taken in Scots Creek Conservation Park in S.A, could easily contain about two dozen or more different species. Terrestrial orchids, as seen in the picture, grow in a temperate climate.

These orchids are deciduous, most of them growing in the autumn, winter or spring dying down in the summer. An interesting fact about orchids in Australia is 82% are terrestrials .

Terrestrial orchids are made up of five main parts: 1 dorsal , 1 , 2 , 1 labellum, 2 lateral . These parts have been labelled in the picture to the right. This orchid is called Erochilus cucullata, or parson’s band Like many other plants, terrestrial orchids need to be pollinated. There are many different types of insect pollinators including native bees and wasps. European bees often attempt to pollinate orchids but unfortunately, they destroy the flower not allowing the plant to reproduce after its own kind. Orchids attract their pollinators by mimicking. Often they use a scent of nectar (they do not have nectar) that is found in near-by plants. Also, they can be shaped to look like an insect tricking the mating insect into pollinating the flower.

The picture to the left is a Thelymitra antennifera (insert) and Bulbine bulbosa as the background. The orchid, insert, copies the lily. They share the same pollinator. An interesting fact about the orchid is its common name is rabbit ears sun orchid. When looking in the picture, you can see why it has been given this name! As I look at the bulbines in our garden I always think of the Thelymitra that copied it.

91 There are a vast variety of orchids. With so many different shapes, some of which look like animals, and many different colours, it can be an overwhelming experience seeing all the different types of orchids. Some only flower when it is warm, and some only after a fire. Here are a few examples.

This orchid is called Arachnorchis tentaculata, also known as the King Spider Orchid. It is reasonably common in the Mount Lofty Range. In a good year when there is adequate water supply the flower can be up to 10 centimetres across. This photo (left) was taken at Mt. Lofty Botanic Gardens on Correy Drive. They were growing in the edge of the cutting and could easily be viewed without bending down far! Arachnorchis tentaculata also come is a white, or albino form (right, taken at Belair Park).

Another orchid is Diuris pardina (left). This picture, like the above was taken in the Mt. Lofty Botanic Gardens, not far from the spiders.

There were several spectacular stands scattered through the fields as well as many independent plants.

There are several Diuris orientis plants (right). They, I think, have rather vivid and distinct colourings. There are quiet a few of this species among the pardina’s so it was not really a surprise to find several crosses. One of them has an interesting colourings (below) including a well formed crown on the dorsal sepal. I like this picture because you can see the features of the flowers from different angles.

Another orchid (left) that is out this spring is Glossodia major. These flowers, in some areas are flowering in fields and can be quiet a sight to see. Once one flower we photographed had the letters around the column ‘B’ and ‘W’. We say there is a ‘m’ where the column is so we call it the ‘BMW’ orchid .

92 One greenhood which has flowered well this winter and spring, is Pterostylis pedunculata. There have been some good patches of these flowers. They are a reasonable size for an orchid, but are not really very attractive to some. At our bush- site at Kangarilla Dump, there is a good patch of these orchids. There were at least one hundred flowering plants and many had no flowers instead just a leaf.

There are many other orchids which I have not included but do not forget the orchid which is the symbol for the NOSSA society, the Leptoceras menziesii. This orchid like most of them is rather small reaching about 2cm across. This picture (left) was taken at Belair National Park.

I hope you have found this article interesting.

Helen Lawrence

Recourses – information from the wonderful D. L. Jones “Orchids of Australia.”

WANTED

*Would any member have a small plant or division of Spiranthes species ‘Late self-pollinating White’ to spare, that I may be able to purchase*

My contact number is (08)83957190 all hours or email [email protected]

Ken Wilson.

93 The library of the Swiss Orchid Foundation at the Herbarium Jany Renz Dr h.c. S Sprunger

The Renz library is one of the finest and most complete orchid libraries, and is a cultural asset, now with a worldwide accessibility. The Renz library is a comprehensive reference collection of orchid literature, which serves as excellent basis for research, conservation and horticulture. The collection contains over 3,000 volumes, including an irreplaceable collection of rare and antique folio volumes, which are considered to be among the best preserved copies in the world.

A complete reference of modern literature is a precious resource for the study of orchids, the largest family of flowering plants. The collection of separatas contains of around 5,000 scientific articles from many sources and represents an extraordinary comprehensive and versatile collection of literature on orchids. The complete library was incorporated into the online catalogue of the University Library of Basel and is now available at http://aleph.unibas.ch

Some 90 select illustrated orchid books, containing over 7000 hand-coloured drawings, have been digitized during the last five years and may be accessed online on the website of the Swiss Orchid Foundation http://www.orchid.unibas.ch (see ‘orchid books’). The rarity, originality and quality of these hand-coloured drawings is an invaluable source of information and proves that scientific precision and artistic efforts are not mutually exclusive. Scientific illustration is irreplaceable for exact documentation, as neither computer science nor photography is able to present such a large amount of accurate and aesthetic information on a single sheet of paper. A large number of the hand-coloured drawings were used for first descriptions and are thus important for the interpretation of the scientific names of orchids.

In addition to the illustrations, over 52,000 photographs of orchids from around the world have been scanned and their identity and names checked: they are available through the website of the Swiss Orchid Foundation. Herbarium specimens, drawings or photographs of all orchids from Europe, Asia Minor, North Africa and North America are available online. Images of many other Asian, Australasian, African, Madagascan and tropical American orchids are also available. This World Orchid Iconography an important tool to obtain identifications and nomenclatorial information on orchids.

Furthermore, the Foundation’s website provides free access to BibliOrchidea, a comprehensive literature database with more than 140,000 entries, covering over 80% of the orchid literature available worldwide. The database is continually expanded and kept up-to- date by the eminent orchid specialist Dr. Rudolph Jenny. Scientists, horticulturists and conservationists, both professional and amateur, can find publications easily, either by searching for a specific title, author or year of publication or by browsing through a comprehensive list of keywords. First descriptions may be found by specifying the taxon (genus, species, subspecies, and variety). All results are accompanied by appropriate images from the Swiss Orchid Foundation database.

94 Sources of the digitized hand-colored drawings

− A Century of Indian Orchids (J. D. Hooker) − A Century of Orchidaceous Plants Vol. 1 (William Jackson Hooker) − A Second Century of Orchidaceous Plants (James Bateman) − Album des Orchidées d'Europe Deuxième Edition (Henry Correvon) − Australian Orchids Vol. 1 & 2 (R. D. Fitzgerald) − Bluetenanalysen neuer Orchideen, III. Afrikanische und madegassische Orchideen 3 (R. Schlechter) − Collectanea Botanica (John Lindley) − Dictionnaire Iconographique des Orchidees (Alfred Cogniaux; Alphonse Goossens) − Die Orchidaceen Deutschlands, Deutsch-Oesterreichs und der Schweiz (Max Schulze) − Die Orchidee, Vol. 56(6), 2005 (Otto Möller) − Die Orchideen Deutschlands und der angrenzenden Gebiete (Erich Nelson) − Die Orchideen Europas (Helmut Baumann; S. Kuenkele; R.Lorenz) − Die Orchideen von Java (& Figurenatlas Vol. 1) (Johann Jacob Smith) − Die Orchideen von Rhodos und Karpathos (C. A. J.Kreutz) − Die Orchideengattungen Anacamptis, Orchis, Neotinea (H. Kretzschmar; W. Eccarius; H. Dietrich) − Flore de Madagaskar, Plantes Vasculaires, 49 Famille - Orchidees Vol. 1 & 2 (Joseph Marie Alfred Henri Perrier de la Bâthie,) − Flore Illustree de Nice et des Alpes-Maritimes, Iconographie des Orchidees (Jean- Baptiste Barla) − Forest Orchids of West Africa (C.W. Chew) − Genera and Species of Orchidaceous Plants Part IV (John Lindley) − Genera et species orchidearum et asclepiadearum quas in itinere per insulam Java vol. 1- 3 (Heinrich Kuhl; Johan Coenraad van Hasselt; Jacob Gijsbertus Samuël van Breda) − Icones Orchidearum Austro-Africanarum Volume 1 “ 2 (Harry Bolus) − Icones Plantarum Helvetiae (Albertus von Haller) − Icones Plantarum Japonicarum (Carolus Petrus Thunberg) − Iconografia delle Orchidee d'Italia (Text: Walter Rossi /Plates: Anne Elderedge Maury) − Iconographie des Orchidees du Brésil (João Barbosa Rodrigues) − Illustrations of Orchidaceous Plants (Thomas Moore) − Lindenia Iconographie des Orchidées (All Volumes) (Lucien Linden & Emile Rodigas) − Monographie des Orchidées des Iles de France et de Bourbon Vol. 1 (Achille Richard) − Orchideées du Departement de la Marne (Ch. Richon) − Orchideen Deutschland (Walter Müller; F. Kränzlin) − Orchidees de Magagascar, Perrierianae Madagascariensis (Friedrich Richard Rudolf Schlechter) − Orchidées des Iles Australes d'Afrique Vol. 1 (Louis Marie Aubert du Petit-Thouars)

95 digitized hand-colored drawing

digitized hand-colored drawing