Coachwood trees offer fantastic display

I was about to write Coachwod trees look fantastic in "full bloom", but I realised that would be technically incorrect. They colour up when their flowers are finished and the sepals are maturing. "The flower colour is actually in the sepals, as there are no real petals (Ceratopetalum apetalum)"

A Coachwood along Pearsons Lane
Growing amongst Blackwood Wattles
 and other rainforest plants

There are masses of these trees in full flower just below the cliff level, along the Illawarra Escarpment.

View from the Jamberoo Lookout
off Jamberoo Mountain Road.
The lookout is excellent (on a clear day)
but the road sign has been removed by the RMS.
Look for a driveway on the east, just below
a serious rise in the road, on the Budderoo Plateau.
It is well worth a stop.
Easy parking, and a walk to a high tech platform
built by the National Parks and Wildlife Service people.
One of their best lookouts.

A zoomed shot of Coachwoods contrasting with
a bright green canopy of a very large "Pencil Cedar" tree.

Here are some close-up shots of the coloured sepals of the Coachwoods.

This shot shows the variation in form of the sepals
Some have 4 "calyx lobes" some have 5.

This shows the developing "Nut"
Within the "persistent calyx".
See this page of PlantNET

Orchids - Flying Ducks and Leek Orchids, as well as Bird Orchids

I have seen and shown these all before, but some things are of interest about these.

Firstly, the Flying Duck Orchids are very early in my experience.
These ones are flowering in an area which National Parks Service managed to burn last year. I have never seen them here before, so put that down as a beneficial side-effect of a "controlled burn".

Flying Duck Orchid
has the best name imaginable.
It is officially Caleana major, named after a Mr Caley,
but Botanical Latin does not allow the letter "Y".

head -on shot of the Flying Duck Orchid.
Its black "beak" is facing you.

the Short-lipped Leek Orchid
Prasophyllum brevilabre
These are also flowering in an area which was burnt
by NPWS.

The rare and endemic Wollongong Bird Orchid
It is not found in Wollongong,
but rather, up on the Budderoo Plateau.
It is described as being located in the general "Knights Hill" area
but as Knights Hill is a basalt intrusion
through the Sandstone Plateau, with rainforest habitat,
even that locator is misleading.
This area is adjacent to the better known Barren Grounds.
As with the Barren Grounds, it is a classic Sandstone heathland habitat.
You can see the white sand grains in the photo.

Another Chiloglottis chlorantha in flower.
The vast majority of these rare plants
on the Budderoo Plateau were burnt last September
But they appear to have survived.
These two flowers were in an unburnt patch.
Some of those which were burnt
are budding up, but the unburnt ones
are flowering much earlier than any burnt ones.

A delightful small, pink moth with black spots

I had never seen anything like this delightful moth before.

Scoliacma bicolora

Daniel found it when the ANOS group was at Ken's place at Bullio, last week (where we saw the "Rufa-type Greenhood").

Scoliacma bicolora

Scoliacma bicolora

Scoliacma bicolora

Scoliacma bicolora

This little day-flying moth was relatively tame, and it walked around on Daniel's hand for a few moments. It then flew off fairly weakly, but it travelled far enough for me to lose track of it. Oh well, I had a few photos.


I then came to trying to identify it, with little success at first.

Naturally I tried to search images for a fairly distinctive moth, but somehow I missed it in the Australian Moths On-line  But of course it is in that wonderful collation of images.

For those not familiar with that on-line reference for Moths,  "most of the information comes from Len Willan’s collection and from the Australian National Insect Collection housed in Canberra at CSIRO Ecosystem Sciences (formerly CSIRO Entomology).
Copyright of all images belongs to Len Willan and CSIRO Ecosystem Sciences."

How did I get to know this?

Well, that's where I have to sing the praises of Dave Rentz and Len Willan.
My Blogging colleague Dave Rentz, a retired CSIRO entomologist (now living in Insect Heaven at Kuranda, Qld. Dave has helped me many times with Cockroaches, Stick Insects, Katydids, and other odd insects I have come across.

I was also helped greatly by Len Willan, who I have met several times at Entomology Workshops which CSIRO Entomology has held over several years. You will already have noticed the credit to Len for compiling the images in that Moths On-line website. In fact I understand that Len more or less built that website.

Len told me that my moth is in a group known as Lichen Moths, which are treated in this paper from the Lichen people at the ANBG and the Australian National Herbarium.

I just love it when scientists work in an interdisciplinary manner. The Insect people do that really well, because the Moth larvae are often very host-specific. So the moth experts have to know their plants.
  
That paper tells me:  "Scoliacma bicolora. This species has been found in north and south Queensland and from there south to Victoria, Tasmania and south-east South Australia. Near Adelaide larvae of this species have been seen eating moss and, less frequently, lichens on rocks in grassy areas."

Len's further information was as follows:

• Your moth is Scoliacma bicolora (Boisduval, 1832)( (Arctiidae: Lithosiinae),
• I have most of the described  Arctids well covered on Australian Moths Online, they best seen as a Slideshow for Arctiidae  
• A resting specimen at Mt Annan Botanical Gardens is shown via this link

What can I say?
All my questions had been promptly answered by both Dave Rentz and Len Willan, and I have only met Len a couple of times. He was even kind enough to tell me he likes my Orchid photos. So that's very nice to know.

He added this point, with which I completely concur:
I presume that these populations and other lichen feeding moth larvae are been completely buggered by successive wildfires and above all repetitive "control burning".
 
One of these days I will write more on "control burning" a subject about which I have recently reported a little, but not enough. I previously reported on an SCA "control burn" which was similarly overly hot and ran out of control.

In my view, if the endangered Ground Parrots and Eastern Bristlebirds at Budderoo Plateau have their habitat burnt at breeding season, (and when they are well-and-truly known to be present), what chance is there that fires will be planned around the need to protect creatures as little known as Lichen Moths and Tussock Moths? 

Its almost enough to make one despair. But Len ended his email with this note: "Slow Stoning wears away the Drips"

An Orchid Weekend - Saturday - part one

The Illawarra Branch of the Australasian Native Orchid Society had scheduled a trip to the Southern Highlands on Saturday, which troubled me, somewhat, as some of the local Orchids had been underwater, literally, for two weeks, and had no flowers left to see. Many other "autumn Orchids" had come and gone in February. What to show them?

We stuck with the plan and went to Budderoo to see the Mecopodum striatum plants out there. I had been able to show those plants to the Canberra Native Plant Society people the week before. This time, however, after three warm days in the middle of the week, most of those Orchids had finished too. We did see a few, however.

Mecopodum striatum

Then we set off for The Gib, where I was confident we would find some of the Scarlet Greenhoods (Diplodium coccinum) which grow there in dense ferns and long grass (under Eucalypt forest cover). It is always relatively hard work finding these plants, despite their relatively bright colour, because their flower heads are often buried amongst the grasses and ferns (or barely protruding),

Diplodium coccinum
growing amongst Maidenhair Ferns

Diplodium coccinum
A beautifully formed flower
These flowers grow progressively more reddish as they age.

From the front you can see the fine "tip" and
the points or "ears"
held out at a shallow angle on this
Diplodium coccinum

Acianthus exsertus
also growing on The Gib, with the
Diplodium coccinum plants

We then adjourned to Mittagong, for a pleasant lunch beside Lake Alexandra before going for a stroll around the tracks, at the base of Mt Alexandra where we found many more Orchids and other interesting things. More tomorrow.

Budderoo visit by Canberra ANPS people

Firstly, I should explain that the Canberra branch of the Australian Native Plants Society organised a visit to the Southern Highlands for this last weekend. They asked to go to the Macquarie Pass rainforests and to Budderoo Plateau.

I would have to say that there was very little in flower. However, we managed to have a pleasant trip on the Saturday (for the rainforest visit). The trick was that after walking along the Clover Hill Track as far as the abandoned farm, we headed back to the cars, and went down to Bass Point, near Shell Cove. There is a patch of Littoral Rainforest there, which at least has the advantage of being more picturesque, and warmer, being beside the coast. Everyone seemed to enjoy this little "surprise" variation to the original Plan.

On the Sunday, we went out along the Budderoo Fire Trail and straight away I was able to show them some nice sandstone heathland and (of course) some very nice Orchids.

The Mecopodum striatum plants were in flower. 

Mecopodum striatum

These cute little creamy flowers are known as Hunchback Orchids. 

They are a variant of Leek Orchids, 

having originally been classified as Prasophyllum striatum.

The next event was quite exciting for me, even though it was only very brief. We stopped along the Budderoo Fire Trail in a patch of tall Eucalypt forest, to admire some very nice examples of a large-leafed form of Polyscias sambucifolia. These plants had similar leaves to that form illustrated from Brisbane Waters (near Gosford), even though the normal Southern Highlands forms do not have such large leaves (that's why I stopped there). So we were able to contrast these plants with the lovely tall specimens of Pencil Cedars (Polyscias murrayi) we had seen on Macquarie Pass the day before.

While we were stopped, I heard and then saw an unusual Parrot fly into the top of a flowering "Eucalypt". The tree was in fact a Red Bloodwood, or Corymbia gummifera, one of many just coming into flower on this Sandstone plateau habitat.

The bird was more interesting,. It was a Swift Parrot. These are an endangered species, which migrates from Tasmania (where it breeds) to the mainland, in autumn and winter, to feed on blossoms of suitable plants (mostly in the Eucalypt tribe). So its appearance in a patch of flowering Gums, in early autumn (more or less) is just a bit early, but is in keeping with their pattern of movement.

I will lodge a formal report of this sighting with Birds Australia which monitors the Swift Parrot Recovery Program.

I recognised this bird by its call, and the fine, pointed wings and the longish pointed tail. I could not make out the diagnostic patches of colour of these birds, As you will see from any illustrations, they have a red throat and red under-tail and red under-wings. But as it was against a grey sky, I could not make out those colours. But the call, habits, flight pattern and the seasonality of the sighting all fit with the Swift Parrot.

• What it was not: We seldom get Lorikeets on the Budderoo Plateau, but I am familiar with them from the Shoalhaven region, where they are common. And I know the calls of the Rainbow, Scaly-breasted and Musk Lorikeets and even the Little Lorikeet, and it was none of those birds.

This report seems "slightly early" in the season, to me, but it does match with the commencement of the Bloodwood flowering season on the Sandstone plateaux of the Shoalhaven and Illawarra Escarpment regions.

The bird only stayed in sight for a few moments, before flying away, calling. I had no opportunity to attempt to photograph it, unfortunately.

So, we pack up again, and moved along the Fire Trail to the track which leads to Gerringong Falls. Despite the name, these Falls (and the eponymously named Creek) flow west into the Upper Kangaroo River, so it has nothing to do with the township of the same name on the coast, south from Nowra.

Along the track there were many fine examples of Banksia ericifolia in flower.

Banksia ericifolia

The track to the Falls peters out in a swampy area, close to the edge of the Valley gorge. But we pressed ahead, through some swampy stuff, to the Creek, and walked along the more-or-less flat rock bottom of the creek, until, above the Falls, there was a deepish pool.

Pool above Gerringong Falls

We took to the shrubbery and followed Wombat trails and some human-made trails, to reach a spectacular viewing rock, opposite the Falls.

Gerringong Falls

I sat on the rock for as long as my companions would allow, for me to recover from my exertions.

Ledge at top of the Gerringong Falls
as seen from the shrubbery
framed by two Old Man Banksia trunks

The shallow rocky creek bed, above Gerringong Falls

Then we retraced our steps back 3 Km up the gently sloping track, back to the main Budderoo Fire Trail. It was a satisfying walk, with the Mecopodum plants in flower, a Swift Parrot and the lovely views of the Gerringong Falls.

Milkweeds and Monarchs

This afternoon, as I was leaving Carrington Falls Reserve (part of the Budderoo National Park) I noticed an unfamiliar white flower growing beside the road.

Gomphocarpus fruticosus Narrow-leaved Cotton Bush

Naturally I stopped to have a closer look. I realised from the shape of the flowers that it was probably in the Milkweed group. That was easily verified by tearing a single leaf. White sticky sap emerged immediately.

Gomphocarpus fruticosus Narrow-leaved Cotton Bush

I recognised that this plant, whatever it might be (and I did not know for sure, at this stage) was both a terrible weed and the preferred host plant for caterpillar of the the Monarch Butterfly. Sure enough, you can see a caterpillar of that species of Butterfly feeding on the plant, just underneath this head of white flowers. It has striking yellow and black bands across its body. It is just visible in the lower section of that image.

Gomphocarpus fruticosus Narrow-leaved Cotton Bush

Seed Capsule forming, It gives the plant its name of "Swan Plant"

I ought have recognised this plant immediately, for my Mother, having been a keen Floral Art enthusiast, often used the seed pods of the Swan Plant in her flower arrangements. But that was in Melbourne, when I was a child. When we lived in Canberra, that plant was not available, as the climate is too cold for it to grow there.
The seeds earn the plant the other name of Narrow-leaved Cotton Bush, for they have a structure attached to the hard seed which is made up of silky filaments, which allow the seed to be carried freely on the wind. And that is how it manages to be such a weedy plant. The plant is also toxic to stock, which makes it a pest for agriculturalists and livestock farmers.

The black and yellow colours of this caterpillar are distinctive.

Black and yellow seem to be universal warning colours in Nature.

Add to that the two pairs of dangerous looking (but harmless)

black "tentacles" which the caterpillar waves around

and I was persuaded not to interfere with it.

Those warning signals seem to keep birds away.

Caterpillar of Monarch Butterfly - Danaus plexippus

This caterpillar is the larval stage of what is arguably the most famous Butterfly in the world - the Monarch Butterfly. The Caterpillar feeds on various plants (including this one) that have a poisonous milky sap. The Caterpillar appears to retain the poisons in its body making it unpalatable to predators. The Monarch Butterfly's orange colour is a warning for predators to stay away, as the chemicals they got (as caterpillars) from feeding on milkweed plants makes the butterflies poisonous. Source Don Herbison-Evans website
This plant is in the family Apocynaceae, many of which produce strong chemicals, some of which are used medicinally, Many plants in this family are toxic to animals, including humans


The Butterfly of this caterpillar is famous for its migrations in North America. You can click to see a clip from a BBC documentary about that migration here.

The Caterpillar of the Monarch Butterfly "develops two pairs of black tentacles protruding from its back: a long pair on its mesothorax, and a shorter pair on its eighth abdominal segment. These tentacles are soft and in no way dangerous." Source Don Herbison-Evans website.

Caterpillar of Monarch Butterfly - Danaus plexippus

Caterpillar of Monarch Butterfly - Danaus plexippus

I met a friend while I was photographing the flowers and these Caterpillars, and I explained to her that I found myself with a moral dilemma. I wanted to destroy the plant because it is a Weed, (and particularly because it is growing within a National Park), but I did not want to kill the Caterpillars. We talked about this and we agreed to take off all flowers from the plant, and to destroy the several seed pods which were just developing, by crushing them on the road. The seeds were not nearly enough developed to be viable.

Sydney Rock Orchids (or are they?)

I am told that once upon a time, the rocky ledges around Sydney were covered with "Rock Lilies" (as they were known to the early settlers). They are of course, Orchids - Dendrobium speciosum (the Sydney Rock Orchid).

Sadly the rock ledges around Sydney  no longer are festooned with these spectacular flowers. There is a huge issue with illegal collection of Orchids from "The Bush".

Currently one can drive around the coastal towns and cities of the Illawarra and Shoalhaven regions and see spectacular plants of the Sydney Rock Orchid in flower in people's front gardens. Albion Park, Nowra and Kangaroo Valley all spring to mind as places with examples of plants growing happily in gardens.

Unfortunately, it is precisely because of people's fondness for these plants in gardens, they are now a rare sight in "The Bush".

It is of course, illegal to collect these plants from the Bush, but it is a difficult matter to police and administer.

Anyway, best not to dwell on the "sins of our fathers".

The same story can be told of Christmas Bells, which were once picked in their thousands, for sale in flower markets (where the sale of cut flowers is now specifically prohibited).

*****

The good news is that I can acknowledge that in some remote (and obviously un-nameable) patches of National Park lands in the lower Shoalhaven Valley, the Sydney Rock Orchids still thrive in their original (natural) abundance.

Dendrobium speciosum - on rocks

Here is a zoomed image of the same plant

Dendrobium speciosum

***************

Here is another issue.

Does Dendrobium speciosum grow on trees?

Well, yes it does!

Or does it?

*******************

Here is a fallen flower which 

the ever-observant Colin Rowan spotted, 

when we were walking along the "boardwalk"

at Minnamurra Rainforest reserve.

Fallen flower of Thelychiton epiphyticus

Colin's discovery led to us photographing 

the plants growing 

high in the rainforest canopy above.

Thelychiton epiphyticus at Minnamurra Nature Reserve

But if it grows on trees, is it still a Rock Orchid?

If so, is it another species?

Serious (and qualified) Orchid experts 

have debated this question for many years.

Jones and Clements argue that it is, 

and have renamed it as Thelychiton epiphyticus

That link still uses the "old name" 

Dendrobium speciosum var. speciosum

but it does recognise this plant

as a different sub-species.

So, even the conservative botanists who control PlantNET

acknowledge it as a different plant, 

and accord it sub-species status.

That's a start.

This tree form of this Orchid

grows on Cambewarra Mountain

high on a rainforest tree.

Thelychiton epiphyticus (flower spray on right)

Here are some images of other, even more impressive plants, of this species growing at Minnamurra Rainforest (near Jamberoo village), part of the Budderoo National Park. The Minnamurra Rainforest is noted for its spectacular wet gorge and waterfall, and the rainforest trees. This shot was taken with a 300 mm lens. So that gives you some idea of how tall this tree is.

The flower sprays are circled in red to show where they are.

Thelychiton epiphyticus at Minnamurra rainforest.

Long may these magnificent plants survive - far out of reach of collectors.

 

 

 

 

Personal disclaimer:

I am growing one Sydney Rock Orchid plant

(a small division from an original plant) 

which was given to me by a friend who owned

a federation house in Mosman which was being sold.

After some discussion, it was decided 

to save the plant from possible destruction, 

as the new owners were planning major renovations.

The magnificent original plant was divided

and shared out to people who promised to look after it.

Better weather, better photos of Bird Orchids

Following on from yesterday's post on the Bird Orchids on the Budderoo Plateau, the weather was better today (at least not raining), and the flowers were one day more mature, and hence more open.

We found this particularly fine plant today,

just begging to be photographed.

Illawarra Bird Orchid - Simpliglottis chlorantha

While waiting to take these photos, I noticed that the labellum 

is very subject to movement on the wind.

These plants have a hinge in the labellum stalk.

The movement of the labellum was quite noticeable.

Here is a close-up shot of the osmophores (scent glands)

on the labellum of one of the flowers.

Compare the real thing 

with the botanical illustration below, (from PlantNET)

Labellum detail of the Illawarra Bird Orchid ("osmophores" or scent glands)

Unless you actually see these strange scent glands, 

it is hard to imagine that they are real. 

They look like green and red dobs of jelly, 

but are more solid than they look.

Illawarra Bird Orchid - Botanical illustration from PlantNET

As a fringe benefit, I realised that there was tiny Flower Spider 

hiding up inside the column of one of these Bird Orchid flowers.

The yellow pollinia sacs are the point where

the Orchid needs a pollinator to come to. 

And that's where the Spider is waiting!

Flower Spider waiting besides the yellow pollinia of the Bird Orchid

Cunning little things, aren't they?
It was tiny - not much bigger than a match-head.

Illawarra Bird Orchids start to flower on Budderoo Fire Trail

I have posted about the Bird Orchids of Budderoo Plateau in previous years.

I cannot help it.

They are so extraordinary, and so localised that I always feel a glow of satisfaction when I find them.

This year, they have started to flower today, 17 August. I have found them flowering as early as 19 July in 2008, and yet they have been known to flower as late as 23 September.

This plant is known also by the name Illawarra Bird Orchid -  a reference to the "open-mouthed" posture of a baby bird, begging for food.

I have been watching these plants for about 5 weeks, firstly as leaves, then as leaves with small buds, then leaves with large upright buds, and today flowers just opening, despite the light rain which was falling. Situation normal on the Budderoo Plateau. These plants grow in shallow soil over a sandstone rock shelf. They flower in late winter, and early spring, when the shallow soil is frequently wet. This heathland on shallow soil is a harsh environment, subject to extreme drying out over summer. These plants become totally dormant at that stage - they lose their leaves and hide under the soil. A good survival strategy.

I am referring to this plant by the name Simpliglottis chlorantha, but PlantNET obstinately refuses to recognise that name. So, when I refer to the illustration from their site, I use the name which they use, Chiloglottis chlorantha.

Note the extraordinary large calli 

or osmophores (scent-producing glands)

on the broad labellum (on left of image).

Illustration from PlantNET - "Chiloglottis chlorantha"

Simpliglottis chlorantha in situ under heath plants

These plants grow in and under the low heath plants 

and "Eggs and Bacon" Pea flowers

which thrive on the shallow moist, peaty soil over the rock shelves of the area.

The dominant heath plant (in flower at the moment) 
on Budderoo Plateau
The genus name "Leucopogon" refers to "white bearded".
This plant is in the family Ericaceae, known as "heath plants"
Click to enlarge the image, to see the bearded flowers.

Leucopogon microphyllus var microphyllus

 One of the upright Eggs and Bacon Pea flowers 

which thrive on the shallow sandstone soil.

Possibly Dillwynia sp. "Barren Grounds"

Dillwynia sp. possibly the Barren Grounds species (from nearby)

 The flower here is seen from the side. 

The "lateral sepals" protrude out in front of the flower,

then curve downwards at their tips.

Illawarra Bird Orchid - Simpliglottis chlorantha - earns its green name (chlorantha)

This is a fresh flower, and so the labellum is held quite close 

to the column.

The large pollen grains (pollinia) are just visible

held above the labellum.

Note the green and red glands (calli) on the labellum

These Orchids have two fresh green leaves flat on the ground.

The leaves are often partially covered by leaf litter.

Illawarra Bird Orchid has a red throat under the labellum.