Seeking Out Australian Native Orchids #33

With a few days spent in the mountains, the orchids on my oft-ridden bicycle route have a chance to show themselves. Or do they?

I have ridden up and down this hill very many times in the two years since I became an orchid spotter. I am always surprised to find new locations for orchids - even if they are the same species I have seen before. I do notice that they are creeping steadily further down the hill with every rain shower that carries the seeds. This cow orchid popped into view on the roadside way lower than any I had seen.

Cow orchid - Pterostylis Subulata

Only now do I see the spider making its way up to the other bud. On the ledge above this flower stand a few leaves getting ready for their display. These are at eye level - I wonder if I will spot them again when I cycle by. What interests me is they are growing in a bed of casuarina leaves - my observation so far has been that orchids do not like to live in the casuarina woods - something to do with soil acidity. Proved wrong again.

The context image shows how easily the orchids can be seen from the roadside. A little about the bicycle - you will note that orchid spotting is not the only maverick thing about me. This is the bicycle I ride all the time - it has small wheels and folds up for easy traveling. I have cycled on this bicycle across Australia 5 times and also around the Netherlands. I used my other small wheeled bicycle to ride around the South Island of New Zealand.

The advantage of rule 3 of orchid spotting (keep revisiting old tracks) is I do know where some orchids hang out. A good memory helps too. The next spot is one I have had my eye on for a while, hidden behind a tree just above the road edge is a bonnet orchid.

The context photo has a flash of blue on the right corner. This reminds me that summer is here as there are more beer cans littering the roadside. On this trip I picked up 5 - all the same brand which is an interesting piece of social typecasting in its own right. As the plant is hiding behind the tree up against the rockface, the photograph is taken back towards the road.

Bonnet orchid - Pterostylis Erecta

Part of my mission today was to see if the orchid I had spotted near the top of the hill last time was in flower. The buds were formed only. I had a rough idea where it was but not very precise as the section of the road was bereft of easily identifiable features. When I cycled past the variegated orchid, I knew I had gone too far. So your dedicated orchid spotter turned around and went back down the hill - here is the evidence

And I did find the orchid - a little further along in its flowering than last time.

There are two buds here. One is still closed. The lateral sepals are clear to see - one left and one right. This suggests to me it is a Horned orchid. Sadly it looks like the flower has pollinated and is closing up. It seems that my week away from checking it out has been the week this has flowered. The hot weather will not have helped. Now I may be lucky as there is still bud two to come out and there is a similar plant a bit further down the road which has the same leaf but has not pushed up a stem yet. I will pay a little more attention to the location - there is a 60 speed sign just before the bend on the downhill side.

Till next time.

Note: Photos taken with Canon PowerShot G16 on December 21, 2016