Journal of the Native Orchid Society of South Australia Inc PRINT POST APPROVED VOLUME 23 NO. 7 PP 54366200018 AUGUST 1999 NATIVE ORCHID SOCIETY OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA Post office box 565 Unley 5061 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 from the Management Committee no person is authorised to represent the society on any matter. All native orchids are protected plants in the wild. Their collection without written Government permit is illegal. PRESIDENT: SECRETARY: Mr Bill Dear Cathy Houston Telephone: 82962111 Telephone: 8356 7356 VICE-PRESIDENT (and New members Coordinator) Mr David Pettifor Tel. 014095457 COMMITTEE Mr David Hirst Mrs Thelma Bridle Mr Roy Hargreaves Mr Malcolm Guy EDITORS: TREASURER Bob & Kerry Bates Iris Freeman 38 Portmarnock Street Fairview Park 5126 Tel: 8251 2443 E-mail [email protected] LIFE MEMBERS Mr R. Hargreaves Mr L. Nesbitt Mr D. Wells Mr R. Robjohns Mr G. Carne Mr R. Bates Mr R Shooter Registrar of Judges: George Nieuwenhoven Trading Table: Judy Penney Trips & Conservation: Ms Thelma Bridle Tel. 83844174 Tuber Bank Coordinator: Malcolm Guy Tel. 82767350 PATRON: Mr T.R.N. Lothian The Native Orchid Society of South Australia Inc. while taking all due care, take no responsibility for the loss, destruction or damage to any plants 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. We condones the reprint of any articles if acknowledgement is given. Journal cost $2 per issue. Subscription $14 family or single. 61 NATIVE ORCHID SOCIETY OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA INC AUGUST 1999 Vol. 23 No. 7 JOURNAL AUGUST MEETING Tuesday August 24 at 8.00 pm: Saint Matthews Hall, Bridge Street, Kensington. Speaker Bob Bates will speak on Kangaroo Island Orchid Adventures Doors open at 7.15 to allow trading table to set up and library to proceed PAGE CONTENTS AUTHOR 61 Diary Dates 62 On the Bench 63 Last Months Speaker Editors 64 September Excursions Thelma Bridle 65 Scott Creek Excursion Report Larry Leader 66 Norton Summit Excursion Thelma 68 Terrestrial Orchid Culture Les Nesbitt 69 Spring Show Schedule Show Marshall 70 NOSSA Spring Show DIARY DATES August 28 Quorn Trip Flinders Ranges Sept 3-5 Yorke Peninsula Springtime Spectacular Curramulka Sept 18-19 NOSSA Spring Show St Peters Sept 25 New members/ Open Day Windsor Gdns Oct 17 Annual Echunga Picnic Echunga Nov 7 Three Duck Orchids Ashbourne January 2000 Three Dipodium species Naracoorte April 3-4 2000 SE Genoplesiums, Pterostylis parviflora Mt Monster July 2000 Ghost Corybas Maccy Oct 8-15 2000 Aust Orch Conference Burnie Next Committee Meeting: Wed Sept 1st at 7:30 at the home of George and Nancy Nieuwenhoven Robin Tc Hope Valley. NEW MEMBERS NOSSA welcomes : Margaret Bungey of Para Hills Mike Wicks of Moorabbin Find our youngest member (born this month) Mark Ian Charlesworth. Congratulation to Mark's Mum and Dad! 62 ON THE BENCH Epiphytes Dendrobium aemulum, D. speciosum, D. Aussie Ira x Pee Wee x speciosum, D. Aussie Child x Hilda Poxon, D. Angellina, D. Ed Lloyd x speciosum, D. Essie Banks, D. Lustrous hybrid, D. Gai-Ellen, D. Kardinia, D. Ku-Ring- Gai, D. Jonathans Glory, D. Zeppelin, Dockrillia rigidum, D. teretifolia (3), Sarcochilus falcatus. Terrestrials Acianthus pusillus, A. caudatus, Caladenia deformis, C. pusilla (flowering in flask), Chiloglottis aff. truncata, Ch. trullata, Corybas dilatatus, C. incurvus, Diuris pardina (SA form), D. orientis, Leporella (as a weed in pots), Pterostylis collina, P. curta, P. stricta, P. aff. cycnocephala (SA ), P. grandiflora, P. nana, P. nutans, P. ophioglossa, P. recurva, P. stricta. The Dockrillia teretifolia were all different, had been mounted differently and treated differently, one with red leaves had probably been kept in bright sunshine; nevertheless all were very floriferous. The mild, dry and sunny conditions Adelaide suffered in July was the probable reason for early flowering of terrestrials and epiphytes alike. PLANT COMMENTARIES-G. Edwards & G. Nieuwenhoven JUDGING Terrestrial species : 1st Pterostylis aff. nana grown by G. Nieuwenhoven 2nd Acianthus pusillus grown by D. Pettifor 3rd Pterostylis recurva grown by G. Nieuwenhoven Terrestrial hybrids : 1st Pterostylis x ingens grown by Kevin Western 2nd Pterostylis Walpamur grown by Kevin Western Epiphytic species : 1st Dockrillia teretifolia grown by G & J Burford 2nd Dendrobium aemulum grown by G. Nieuwenhoven Epiphytic hybrids 1st Dendrobium Essie Banks grown by G &P Edwards 2nd D. Zeppelin grown by G & P Edwards Plant of the Night Dockrillia teretifolia POPULAR VOTE Best Terrestrial C. deformis Best Epiphytes Dendrobium Kardinia 63 LAST MONTH'S SPEAKER: Our July speaker was Mark Clements from the Centre of Plant Diversity at the CSIRO in Canberra. Mark is originally from Adelaide. He gave an overview of his work, explaining how it has helped to sort out the taxonomy of Australian orchids at all levels from species up to actual tribe. This was probably the most interesting orchid talk 1 have ever attended as it answered so many questions at so many levels. Mark began with his work on symbiotic flasking of orchid seed, moved on to his work at Kew in 1984 and visits to all the great European herbaria. We then accompanied Mark (via slides) on trips to New Caledonia and New Guinea. From there we went via electron microscope into orchid seed embryos, electrophoresis, DNA sampling. From there we skipped over to Qld and the Cooktown orchids. Absolutely fascinating. Anyone listening to Mark would have little trouble accepting the taxonomic outcomes of his work. This includes the reasons why Pterostylis is being divided into several genera and why the Cooktown orchid in general has become at least 5 species... ie D. bigibbum itself from the Cooktown area up to the Iron Range, D. lithacola from further south, D. phalaeonopsis from further north and D. striaenopsis. We will even have to accept that almost none of the Aussie dendrobiums actually belong to Dendrobium sensu stricto and that perhaps none of our bulbophyllums will stay in the genus Bulbophyllum. It was good to see Mark's family present including his parents who are well known conservation activists from a time before such issues were popular. FIELD TRIPS IN SEPTEMBER Sept. 4/5 Yorke Peninsular Weekend Meet: Saturday Muloowurtie Reserve, 10am. Sunday Stansbury Pub by the foreshore 9am We will only look at the leg of the Peninsular so it should be a fairly relaxing trip! Sat Sept. 11 Para Wirra Meet: Sandy Creek Pub (outside), loam. Sun Sept. 12 Tailem Bend and Ferries Mc Donald Con. Park Meet: corner of Princes Highway and Dukes Highway, East of Tailem Bend, 10am. (Not at the pub). Sept. 18/19 SPRING SHOW Sun Sept. 19 Conservation Group weeding at Belair, morning only. Meet: Main entrance to Belair National Park, l0am. Sat Sept. 25 Family Day at Belair with OCSA members. Meet: Main entrance to Belair National Park 10am Sun Sept 26 Hardy's Scrub. Meet: Old Noarlunga, South Road turnoff to Willunga, 10am. October long weekend - Fri Oct. 1 - Tues Oct. 5 SE trip including Mount Boothby, Nora Creina, Honan's Scrub, Mary Seymour Con. Park, Padthaway Con. Park. Many different orchid species should be found on this 5 day trip. Please contact Thelma Bridle (83844174) for more details 64 FIELD TRIP REPORT: PTEROSTYLIS SMARAGDINA SPECIAL JULY 24 This excursion to Scott Creek CP provided a feast of Winter orchids. We met President Tom Hand of the local Friends group at the main Park gate on Frith Road. There was exciting promise of things to come as within a metre of the gate were Diuris pardina and Thelymitra nuda in bud. A few metres further down the track were large plants of T. grandifl ora. This track, the Quarry track leads into the aptly named Greenhood Track where no less than 12 species of greenhood were found! Not surprisingly the first of these was our quarry P. smaragdina growing with P. sanguinea, P. nutans and P. aff. nana all in full flower. The further we went the taller the P. smaragdina became! In fact this species is our tallest greenhood, reaching to l metre tall. (see Thelma's amusing illustration...." I can't see any greenhoods here!"). A few steps off the track we found an old mine tunnel (silver was mined here) and around it lots of Acianthus pusillus in late flower and A. caudatus just beginning to bloom. Some species like Genoplesium aff. rufum and Eriochilus sp. were long finished. We continued on to some of the best woodland vegetation in the park. Leaves of some 20 species were seen.... Acianthus, Cyrtostylis, Corybas, Caladenia (5 species), Diuris, Glossodia, Leptoceras, Microtis, Orthoceras, Prasophyllum, Pterostylis, and Thelymitra (6 species). Greenhood Gully has the largest and densest colonies of Corybas dilatatus (diernenicus) in South Australia so we walked around the edge of these and not through them .... Amongst the short, ruby-red Corybas was a single flower of Pterostylis pedunculata flowering early as a result perhaps of herbicide used to kill blackberries here. We added a new record for the Park as a colony of Corybas x miscellus was located nearby. One of the most spectacular colonies of Pterostylis robusta we had ever seen was right by the track; some 50 plants in flower. Close by were dozens of P. plumosa in early bud and a rosette of Pterostylis aciculiformis. At this point we were aware of the weather closing in and began to hurry but a call of 'here's a different one' had us rushing to look at Pterostylis aff.