Seeking Out Australian Native Orchids #28

Someone asked me the other day how it was I could find orchids on my doorstep in a big city. I have talked a lot about the easy access to the National Parks in Sydney. I did the Google Maps things and ticked off where the National Parks are. Here they are:

The map is 100 kms (60 miles) from top to bottom and 80 kms (50 miles from right to left). I live just on the edge of Ku-Ring-Gai Chase NP on the top half of the map. We can find orchids anywhere there are ticks and without going to the mountains which are to the left off the map. I was also asked how big Sydney is. Well it fits between New York and Los Angeles - i.e., it would be the 2nd largest city in USA. In fact it would be the 2nd largest city in Europe behind London and ahead of Berlin

I had two ideas for my bike ride. See if the suspected Horned Orchid had flowered yet and check on Spotty on my walking track - plus of course have a good workout up the hill. Because I have a coaching call with my investments coach every Monday I was late getting on the road. It was quite warm with a strong breeze sucking in the warm air from up North. I cannot say I enjoyed the ride down the hill - I was tagging a car whose driver liked the brakes a lot. I think my mind was on trading ideas and not on pulling over and looking for orchids.

I turned and started the work up the hill. The horned orchid suspect has now produced 3 buds but not flowering. I did not even bother to try photograph the bonnet orchid there - light is too tough. I did enjoy the sounds of summer - cicadas beginning to make themselves heard. Tracked a little further up to a site where bonnet orchids and cow orchids grow together - so I stopped for a photo to get the cluster - bonnet orchid to the right and cow orchids to the left.

While I was taking this picture, I was assailed with the sound of someone yelling loudly. Hoves around the corner is a big man sweating up the hill on his bicycle admonishing himself. He pulled over to chat and I give him the orchid spotting lesson. 1. one or two leaves like a eucalyptus leaf close to the ground. 2. long stem with no leaves and 3. a bud or flash of colour. I talked about how they propagate - tubers like a potato or seeds that then get carried with the rain water. "So the ones here have come from up the cliff because they are too high off the road to have been washed that way". He says, pointing way above our heads, "like from that spot up there". I just made an orchid spotter out of a man who likes to yell at himself on the bicycle.

I do like the way the sun is working its way off the colours of the flower and the leaf. Well what did we see here?

Bonnet orchid (Crypostylis Erecta) - I find these so hard to photograph though I do like the spider web

Cow orchid (Crypostylis Subulata). I am getting the hang of photographing these - it is all about getting the angles right to get the sepals in focus and getting the whole thing in the frame.

Making my way further up the hill I catch a splash of purple and white just below eye level behind a tree on the bank. I have been reading a book about associative thinking - my brain has become so attuned to the search criteria I had fed it. Looking for Variegated Hyacinth orchid and I find one hiding behind a tree.

The picture tells the story - roadway; height above the ground; hidden by the tree and I spotted it. Parked the bicycle and there were two plants on the roadside. These made the better photos as they were more shaded.

Common Hyacinth Orchid (Dipodium Variegatum)

I did spend some time trying to get a photo of the ant that was visiting - too many moving parts to get anything in focus. Well with 3 great sites, I decided not to go for the walk today. That will be for tomorrow as there are 3 places to revisit.

Credits: Population data from Wikipedia