Seeking Out Australian Native Orchids #13

I have cycled the roads of the Hunter Valley many times and not had a lot of success finding orchids. Would today be the day?

The Hunter Valley is located about 130 kms (80 miles) North of Sydney and I have a house on a vineyard there. I love cycling there as the roads are uncrowded and there are views to 3 different mountain ranges depending which way one goes. Sometimes I ride a route that takes in all three. The Hunter Valley is more than a vineyard area. It is also a coal mining area and an important cattle farming area. Cattle mining and coal mining and vineyards are all activities that are not good for native orchids - they do thrive in areas that are undisturbed. The cattle eat the tubers and the machines chop off the heads before the seeds are set.

I do have a route that I like to cycle that heads from the vineyards through the village of Cessnock and heads South towards the Watagan Mountains through the village of Kitchener - named after the British General, Kitchener of Khartoum. I like going this way because there is a good climb up to the settlement of Quorrobolong and the views of the mountains are head on. The ride goes to the foot of the mountains and then loops back left or right along the mountains before returning to my house. Today I was feeling a little lazy - ride in the opposite direction which has a much longer ascent to the top of the climb = really easy ascent in fact.

Pedaling along quietly and I notice a signpost on the left for Werakata State Conservation Area. I have not noticed the sign before. I had always assumed that this bush area was surrounding the colliery that is still operating here. It is an underground colliery and the coal is transported by conveyor to a coal washing plant closer to town. I am paying attention to the left hand side of the road - there are lots of yellow daisies and then I spy a yellow flower with a different form. I loop back and sure enough it is an orchid.

I know this is a Donkey Orchid because its petals look like donkey ears. The reference materials I use are a little conflicting as to whether this is a Golden Donkey Orchid (Diuris Aurea) or a Tiger Orchid (Diuris Sulphurea). There is a long road to ride before I am expert enough to tell the difference. I am leaning to Diuris Sulphurea

There are several plants in the cluster and that often helps with identification as the small differences between plants may make an ID lean one way or the other.

Why is it I found an orchid here? You will recall that I have been laying out some rules for finding orchids. Rule 1: go to places where they are protected. I got lucky here because I went past a protection area.

I have since dug up information about the Werakata State Conservation Area. This SCA was established in 2007 as a collaboration between the mining company and State Parks (i.e., not National Parks). This SCA is an extension of a series of National Parks in the locality all called Werakata National Park. Some of these surround old mine workings and some are made up of old State Forests. My guess is that the orchids have survived here as the mine workings were fenced off years ago and as it is an underground mine, where there is not a lot of surface disruption.

The context photograph shows the fence that marks off the mine workings. This grass area on the roadside verge has been mowed but that must have been done after the last set of seeds had seeded.

Now I did see the sign to the Werakata SCA on the other side of my loop ride (where the strasight arrow ends). I wandered down the road a bit to see if I could find any orchids - no luck, though I did see a few wallabies and lots of other Spring flowers.

This story has a twist to it. The week after taking these photos I decided to explore other sections of Werakata National Park - further to the East. I cycled a big loop through the park and did a few exploratory walks and could find no orchids - in fact there were very few flowers of any type. One of the information boards talked about orchids. My feeling is that conditions are a bit dry on this section further away from the mountains. While I was riding around the loops (I was a little bit lost) I noticed there was a huge bushfire burning to the West - in the direction I needed to go. I chose to ride in the opposite direction to find a way out that was going away from the direction the wind was blowing and away from the fire. As it happens the fire was quite some distance away and it had started in the middle of the SCA where I had seen the orchids the week before.

This photograph was taken on one of the roads I cycled. The fire (which may have been deliberately lit) started somewhere in the middle of the SCA and the wind was blowing very strongly from the North West. there is a chance that my orchid site will be unscathed. It will set back many of the orchids though for next season. Last report was the fire destroyed over 900 hectares of bushland (3,600 acres). Sad fact of life in Australia

Note: Photographs taken October 29, 2016. The locations are approximate - I do not divulge where I find orchids because some people are known to dig them up.