Waratahs - the true species and some Hybrids

In response to a comment yesterday from my fellow Aussie Nature Blogger "Mick" (from Sandy Straits and Beyond) I promised to show photos of more forms of Waratah. These are all either cultivars (selected varieties) of the true species - the NSW Waratah (Telopea speciossima) - or hybrids thereof. The hybrids are variously crossed with the Braidwood Waratah (Telopea mongaensis) or the Gippsland Waratah (Telopea oreades)

You can see some of the most readily available cultivars at the "Proteaflora" (commercial nursery) site. Click on the heading Telopea (Waratah) While not exactly recommending Proteaflora, they are certainly the largest grower of these plants (for plant sales), and have a huge distribution network through Nurseries and Garden Centres in the Eastern States. There are other growers, and some other hybrids and cultivars (selected natural varieties). In my opinion the most interesting cultivars are those selected by Paul Nixon, at Brimstone Waratahs.

Mick asked if Waratahs might grow on the coast in South-east Queensland. I cannot say, But I would always ask at a local nursery, or check whether you ever see any Waratahs growing in your local area. However, I might suggest as another possibility, the wonderful (related) plant, known as the Dorrigo Waratah (Alloxylon pinnatum). It is a true tropical (wet-temperate rainforest) plant. It normally grows at altitude, but if some shade and a moist gully type position could be provided, it might do well. They thrive out in the open in Robertson, but we are high and relatively cool here. This plant is part of the Proteaflora stock list, so any of the nurseries which carry their plants could order one for you. It is worth trying, as it has terrific bright green foliage, as well as bright red flowers. They are more open in flower form. It grows quite tall.

This is what I mean by praising the hybrid Waratahs for their prolific flowering. These plants are growing in "Pinkwood Park" in Robertson, cared for by volunteers on an occasional basis. The get an occasional feed, but they are not watered, or given any intensive care. Once the plants become established, they are pretty much on their own. I cannot say for sure, but judging by the age of these plants, they are probably "Shady Lady" which, historically, has been the most successful garden variety of hybrid Waratah. It has since been superseded by other similarly named varieties, SL Crimson, SL Red and SL White.

A word of warning re the white varieties of Waratah, the flowers are prone to burning in sunlight. Personally, I cannot see the point in white Waratahs, just as I cannot see the fascination in the search for a Blue Rose - but that's gardeners for you. Always in search of the new variety.
Here is an individual plant. I could not bother to try and count the number of flowers it is carrying. It is a truly spectacular plant.Here is the flower of this particular plant. Perfectly lovely in its own right. The hybrids tend to have smooth edges to their leaves, not serrated, as the NSW Waratah does. Also, the bracts tend to be smaller than the true species. But in terms of reliability and form, it is a great garden plant.Here is a photo of a new hybrid plant "Red Shady Lady", which has probably been "back-crossed" between the original "Shady Lady" and the true Telopea speciosisima. It is an improvement on the original "Shady Lady" hybrid which tended to be a bit pinkish in its flower colour. This hybrid has better colour, good bracts, and still maintains "hybrid vigour".This plant is growing in my garden, and is in its third year. It probably has 30 flowers on it. The photo was taken just as a rain storm arrived, one evening - hence the wet spots.
To show you the variations available in the modern Waratahs, here is an unknown hybrid growing in Pinkwood Park, which is a compact bush, and it has relatively small flowers. There are certain advantages in having a small plant, as, in places like Robertson (with both strong winds, and very friable soil), it means they are less susceptible to wind damage, such as "wind rock" - where the roots are disturbed by movement of the plant because of wind. Unfortunately I cannot tell you the name of this variety. I do know that it is a hybrid Waratah, however, from the smooth leaves.Finally, as an extreme example of the variation available in the NSW Waratah cultivars. I am not sure of the name of this plant, but looking at the huge bracts, and the pale colour of the florets in the centre, it might be "Brimstone Pink". This plant will open with huge flowers. I will keep an eye on this plant and photograph it as the flowers mature.

Hilltop and Thirlmere Lakes trip

After supporting the local residents of Hilltop in their opposition to the expanded Regional Shooting Centre at Hilltop, I went down into the Bargo State Conservation Area, to have a closer look-see in the bush down that way.

There were some examples of the lovely Eriostemon australasius in flower. This plant is a left over from a revision of the genus Eriostemon. Nearly all the others (if not all of the original members of that genus) are now classed as "Philotheca". This plant is known from other areas, but apparently the Hilltop to Thirlmere area is one of its strongholds. A lovely clear flower.

A related plant is the Boronia ledifolia. Boronias have 4 petals, the Eriostemon has 5 petals. But both are in the Rutaceae family. This is the first time I have seen this plant. It does not seem to be common south of Sydney. Both these plants were flowering happily at Hilltop, just near the proposed Regional Shooting Centre. Unfortunately I did not find any Orchids in this part of the trip.

So I decided to follow a lead I had been given by Colin and Mischa Rowan, and went a little further along the Bargo Road to Thirlmere Lakes. The weather was lousy. Overcast, damp and miserable weather, interspersed with steady rain.

Anyway, along Slades Road, I did find some interesting Orchids. In places, masses of them. This was my first visit to Thirlmere Lakes. I met a (former) German gentleman, who now resides in Stanthorpe, Queensland, and who is obviously a keen bushwalker. We passed a few interesting minutes chatting about the countryside here. He had been out at the end of the road which leads into the South Colong Wilderness (part of the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area).

Some of the Orchids which were in flower were these Chiloglottis diphylla plants. They have unusually shaped "clubs" which I found myself describing to Colin by email tonight as "like a pair of yellow slippers tucked under a bed". Odd reference, I know, but it seems a fair enough description, if you look closely at the pair of parallel yellow structures tucked horizontally under the dark red labellum.
In this image (a bit blurry, sorry, but I refused to lie down in the mud to photograph these plants more closely) you can see the clubs bent down, then forward underneath the body of the flower. Other Chiloglottis I have seen this autumn have their clubs bent out wide and backwards, or straight down. Also this one has clubs which are clearly yellow for most of their length. Previously published photos of Ch. seminuda and Ch. reflexa may be found at those individual links. Another intriguing plant group is these Greenhoods, which I am as yet unable to identify.Clearly they are a type of Greenhood, but what? Tiny thin buds, but very small. They are only on stems about 2 inches high. Even though they are not fully expanded, it looks like they are going to be only small flowers. A 20 cent coin is there for scale. I spoke with a local Macarthur Branch ANOS member, Wally Southwell about them tonight, but he did not know what they were likely to be (from my vague description over the phone). I have sent him several photographs, and hope to hear back from him.

I shall go back to check these plants again, to monitor their progress and to identify them. I shall report on how these plants develop.

The colours of summer - red, brown and orange.

Having shown many blue and purple wildflowers flowers in recent weeks, today I seemed to find many flowers (and butterflies) in browns and orange. The stand-out butterfly is this one, below. With bright orange-yellow patches of colour on its wings, you would think this Butterfly is in need of camouflage, but when it flies, all one tends to see are two bright patches of colour, making the creature itself appear to be two separate objects (as it flies). The dark brown wings and body seem to disappear, as the coloured patches dominate the appearance. When settled, it has lovely "eye" markings, with blue centres, inside dark rings, and the lower two are inside a bright orange ring, which stands out against the brown wing. A lovely design. These bold "eye" markings are seemingly a protective marking to confuse possible predators.
The Sword-grass Brown Butterfly (Tisiphone abeona) is a feature of the sandstone heathlands, over the summer season. I remember this butterfly from my (very much) younger days, in Springwood, in the Blue Mountains. Most recently I saw it at Manning's Lookout (on the top of the escarpment, above Kangaroo Valley). Today I saw a number of these large butterflies at the Carrington Falls area. As this photo shows, this one was hanging out amongst Coral Fern and Sword-grass (Gahnia). Both these plants are typical of moist areas on sandstone, in the Southern Highlands. As indicated by the name, this Butterfly's caterpillar feeds on Sword-grass (Gahnia sp.) Sword-grasses are very fibrous, with sharp edges, so it is remarkable that these butterflies have adopted them as their food plant.In an open area of this reserve, I found numerous Christmas Bells (Blandfordia nobilis). Some, such as this plant, were growing in the middle of a little-used track (a fire trail). As with one flower stem I found last week, further out on the Budderoo Plateau, this stem of flowers had achieved pollination. This particular stem had a truly remarkable rate of success. Eight of these flowers have started to form seed pods, and only two appear not to have been successfully pollinated. One is standing upright (as they do as the flowers mature) and it might also have been pollinated. Two are still fresh (pendant) flowers. In the local area, this number of "bells" on a single stem is unusual. But to achieve pollination on so many on a single stem is extraordinary.

On the track back to the car, I found this relatively large-flowered "eggs and bacon" flower. It was just a small plant, about 600 mm high - so it did not stand above the dense growth of rushes and grasses of the sandstone heathland. It is Pultanea tuberculata (synonym P. elliptica). Many of the Eggs and Bacon flowers ("Pea flowers") are quite small, but this one had small leaves, about 5mm long, and the flowers were approximately 1cm long. Bright orange inside the "standard", and red outside on the standard and keel. A lovely bright flower. The effect of the flowers is increased by the way the flowers are clustered near the tip of the growing stem.

More Wildflowers from the Sandstone Plateaux

These flowers are from East Kangaloon in the Southern Highlands (just north of Robertson).

This large Scaevola flower is very prominent amongst the ground-cover of plants, ferns, and leaf-litter on the forest floor. It is Scaevola ramosissima - the Purple Fan-flower. At present this plant is very commonly seen in most of the sandstone scrub (at least under Eucalypt trees). The flowers are quite large 3 to 4 cm long, with a very definite protruding 3 central petals. The two outer petals appear to be twisted back towards the rear. The botanists regard these "petals" as part of a corolla, deeply split, and spread out like a "fan" - hence the common name.
This genus was apparently named after a Roman Warrior Gaius Mucius Scaevola. The last name was a "nick-name" meaning "lefty" as he plunged his right hand into a fire - supposedly to show his lack of fear of fire (he had been sentenced to death by burning). He escaped execution - as a result of this display of bravery. Supposedly the shape of the flowers reminded the botanist (who named the genus) of a bony (burnt) right hand - hence he gave it the name Scaevola).

Hyacinth Orchids are still in flower (they started in early December). Here is a close-up image of the side of one flower.

(DJW Edit 2.1.2010) Although it is less than clear from this image, and the group shot below, this species is Dipodium punctatum. I had thought that these plants were D. roseum, but having gone back to the same clump in January 2010, I can now confirm that these plants are D. punctatum.)
You can see the twisted stem, which is how most Orchids end up with their flowers held upside-down, allowing the "labellum" (tongue) to serve as a landing platform for insects when wanting to pollinate the flower. In this case, the labellum is the dark pink protrusion at the front of the flower. The column of this orchid is inside the pale pink/white tube. The yellow blob is a cover, behind which the pollen grains are located. Insects attracted to the flower have to enter the tube, and as they do so, they brush the sticky pollinia, which they take (stuck to their wings or head) to the next flower, to effect pollination.

Below is a group of Hyacinth Orchids growing together in a way I have not ever seen before. In this location there were several clumps of Hyacinth Orchids growing in this manner. It makes a wonderful display. They are right beside a road - which is very convenient (for me). The local population appear not to notice them. How strange! Here is a better specimen of the Common Fringe-lily (Thysanotus tuberosus) than the one of which I published a photo a few days ago.I am slightly uncertain about this next identification. I know it is a Hibbertia, but I think it is Hibbertia diffusa (but I am not sure).
This is another plant which is very common on the sandstone forest floor. It is in flower commonly - for most of the spring and early summer seasons. It is probably the most common of the blue flowered plants in flower at present. It is Dampiera stricta.
This genus is named after William Dampier, the famous English "Privateer" (a more polite term than "pirate") who found plants of this genus at Shark Bay in 1688 to Western Australia. His notes of the flora and fauna survived Dampier being marooned (seemingly with his consent) on the Nicobar Islands. He built a new boat, and escaped to Sumatra. His journals survived these adventures, and were studied by Sir Joseph Banks, prior to his own voyage with Captain Cook in 1768 - 1771.

So, there you go, plants, and a bit of Roman and English history as well.

Southern Highlands Photographic Society see Orchids

The Southern Highlands Photographic Society came along with me today to see some of the local Ground Orchids, in Kangaloon. (Photo Les Valentine)
We also saw many other interesting creatures, including a large number of Spiders (which love Orchids, as the Spiders know many insects come to the Orchid flowers). There also was a very fine (large) Weevil, hiding inside the old seed capsule of a Woody Pear. I picked up the Woody Pear, to show the group, and nearly died of fright, for I thought that I had picked up a very large Spider within the open seed capsule. Fortunately, before the panic set in completely, I realised that it was a harmless Weevil. These creatures are sap-suckers, which means that their mouth parts are reduced to a tube, which in this case is folded under the head of the Weevil. Another distinctive feature of these large weevils is their antennae, which (as in this image) are often bent, and they protrude from well out along the "proboscis" (nose) of the insect.
We started out with a fine display of Flying Duck Orchids (Caleana major). These plants were in great condition, which is pretty amazing given how dry their chosen habitat is - on a rock shelf with very shallow, poor sandy soil.
We also saw a number of Purplish Beard Orchids (Calochilus robertsonii). These flowers continue to bewilder me, with their intricate "beards" made up of scent glands on the "labellum" (lip) of the flowers.
Here is a shot of me photographing a nice group of "Donkey Orchids" (Duiris sulphurea). Les Valentine took this photo and the one above of some of the SHPS people getting into the action down on Tourist Road.

More garden plants

Here are a few more "garden plants" in flower.

Having shown you a stunning large-flowered Clematis, with mauve-blue flowers, a few days ago, here is what the local native Clematis looks like. This species is Clematis glycinoides.
What it lacks in quality and size of blooms, it makes up for in "enthusiasm". This plant is fantastically floriferous, with one single plant covering two full-sized trees with its white flowers.
So, this plant, while completely native and natural in its setting here, should be classed as a "wild flower", but I like to regard it as a "garden plant" as well - for the wonderful effect of its flowers. And in a few months, the female plants will also show the famous silvery white seed heads, thus creating a second display of sheets of white.

This is another "wild flower" - from Japan. It is Rosa rugosa "Rosarie de la Hay". This is its first full flower, but soon the plant will smother itself in these lovely magenta flowers, which are sweetly scented. The perfume is in the same slightly musky range as the more famous "old-fashioned Roses". I love the Rusosa Roses for their wildly healthy, rich green foliage. They are very prickly, but the thorns are more like pins and needles than the more dangerous reverse hooked thorns of the Hybrid Tea Roses. So, while they are difficult to handle, these plants are not as bad as they are made out to be, once you get the knack of handling them. Rosa sinica alba, which I showed you several days ago, is vastly more dangerous to handle, with vicious thorns on long arching canes.
Here is an un-named variety of Lilac. This was a good garden specimen, but it is basically a wild form, as it is a "sucker", not a grafted, named variety. I love it any way. And here is a close-up of the Hybrid Waratah, "Red Shady Lady". This plant is a really good garden specimen, as this plant is less than two years old in my garden, (planted as a 6 inch pot specimen). It has had at least 50 flowers this season. Amazing.

Native Plants at Belmore Falls

Here are some photos of plants taken at the Belmore Falls area, which is about 5 Km south of Robertson. It is basically a sandstone area (with cliffs, overlooking the Upper Kangaroo Valley). However, there is a deep gully above the falls, in which there is dense Eucalypt forest, with some wet gully (or rainforest) plants (Coachwood, and Callicoma, and Tree Ferns) amongst the Eucalypts. About 100 metres either side of the creek, the plant communities dry out rapidly, to thick Eucalypt and Banksia and Hakea scrub - but classic sandstone-based plant communities.

The most unusual plant "record" is this plant of the Braidwood Waratah (Telopea mongaensis).
This plant is known to occur to the south of the Robertson area, near Bundanoon Creek, in the Meryla Pass area, and PlantNet report it as occurring at Fitzroy Falls. So, depending upon how precise these records are mean to be taken, this Belmore Falls record is a minor extension of the range of this species, of either about 15 Km north-east, (from Fitzroy Falls) or some 30 Km north-east (from Bundanoon Creek). This plant is growing in heavy shade of tall Eucalypts, approx 20 metres from a small creek, and about 50 metres from the main Barrengarry Creek. There are Callicoma and Coachwood trees around, and some specimens of Lomatia myricoides.

Close-up of flower. Note that this species opens its flowers from the top (centre) of the flower, whereas the NSW Waratah opens its flowers from the lower (outside) part of the flower, first.I have only found one specimen of this species here in the Belmore Falls area, but there might be more specimens which I have not seen. I shall have a further look around for more specimens in the next week, while this plant is in flower.

Here is a distance shot, showing the flat-topped form of this flower - quite different from the NSW Waratah.
In fairness, this is not a good specimen, but it is the only flower on the only plant of this species which I have found in this area.

By way of contrast here is a small white-flowered specimen of the Tetratheca genus, (possibly Tetratheca thymifolia) Normally, this species has lilac flowers, but I came across this white flowered specimen when going in to check on the Telopea mongaensis (above).
Here is the perfectly formed bud of the plant known as "Narrow-leafed Drumsticks" Isopogon anethifolius. This is a multiple-flowered head - an "inflorescence".

It is perfectly formed, with the two different angled spiral lines in the construction of the flower head. These are known as "Fibonacci Spirals", in which the arrangement of flower sections in the head are said to relate to each other as two adjacent numbers in the series of "Fibonacci numbers" There are classic illustrations on that site, of flatter flowers, (Sunflowers and Echinacea) which make it slightly easier to see the alternate spiral lines.
This plant opens its flowers from the lower edge, first. The individual flowers open with 4 twisted petals, and each individual flower in the head has a prominent protruding central structure.

"Finger Orchids" - or Caladenias

The names are difficult, even awkward. They used be called "Ladies Fingers" when I was a child. But that has been modified by political correctness, to "Finger Orchids". Until recently, these charming little Ground Orchids were all "Caladenias" - a very large and diverse genus within the Orchid tribe. But the taxonomists have been at work, and these little Orchids have been revised and split into Petalochilus and Stegostyla; with other groups, notably the "Spider Orchids" split off to their own group, and also separated into several distinct genera.

Anyway, these little Ground Orchids have started to flower, in the last week, down in the Eucalypt Forest in Kangaloon. Here are some of these delightful and delicate flowers.

Petalochilus carneus - mid pink, (normal) form.

Petalochilus carneus - a really dark pink form.

Petalochilus carneus - light pink form.

Petalochilus carneus - nearly white form.

Can this still be Petalochilus carneus?
Note the greenish tinges to the "column" (the central section of the flower)
and the distinctive magenta coloured tip of the column.
But it still has the typical red banding on the column
and on the Labellum, and a yellow lip of the Labellum.
But the four fingers are purest white - not a trace of pink.

I will follow up in a few days with some other related plants in the genus Petalochilus and Stegostyla. There are some details of identification which I wish to check up on, before going "public" with my idea of their precise names.

More Ground Orchids

Today I saw an Orchid which was new to me. Clearly it is not rare, just it takes a lot of finding. Partly the trick is being in the right place, and at the right time. I have walked this area (on Kirkland Road, Kangaloon) hundreds of times before (well, some exaggeration, perhaps), but it is one of my regular spots in Springtime.

I have seen leaves of this plant (at left) before, without knowing what plant I was looking at. In fact I thought they might have been a little pink Lily-like flower called Schelhammera undulata which has a slightly similar leaf.

Well, today I realised that these leaves belonged to an Orchid called Turtle Orchid (what an awful name).





It is in a group of "Wasp Orchids", because of the relationship with a particular wasp which pollinates these Orchids, supposedly because of the resemblance of the glands on the "labellum" to the body of a wingless female wasp.

The official name is Chiloglottis seminuda.
These plants were growing on deep sandstone soil, in a damp forest, of tall Eucalypts. I am not exactly sure of the classification of this forest type.




The structure of the lip ("Labellum") is quite extraordinary, as it resembles an insect quite closely. Personally it looks to me like an ant has climbed onto the flower, but the name Ant Orchid has been allocated to another, related, group of Orchids, so that name cannot be used for this plant. But why Turtle Orchid?
Click on the image for a closer look.






Another Ground Orchid which I saw in a different area, two weeks ago, is the Dark Mosquito Orchid, Acianthus exsertus.

These Orchids have leaves which look quite a lot like the Helmet Orchids which I spoke about yesterday, but these are very dark reddish purple below. There were fewer of these Orchids here than in the other place where I saw them before, on Tourist Road. Clearly they are happy in shaded areas, in forest. Being small plants, with dark flowers, and very well camouflaged, they take a bit of finding.

Helmet Orchids

Last week I reported that David Jones, from the CSIRO's Australian National Herbarium, had told me that the small Helmet Orchids I had found were the relatively common Corybas aconitiflorus, but with small and as yet undeveloped flowers. This week comes the proof.

This developed flower is still very small, (less than 10 mm from front to back) and it is growing on a particularly small leaf, a mere 13 mm long.

None the less, it is considerably developed from the small flower of which I published a photo last week (and the week before).
Those photos did not have a scale, but today's photos do.


Forgive the slight parallax error problems. You can see that the undeveloped flowers are still only 6 mm long, and are very narrow, at a mere 2 mm wide.

It is the width which changes most as the flower matures. I shall go back again, over the next few days and measure a number of plants with a vernier caliper, to get precise measurements, which I shall pass on to David Jones. The point is that these flowers are still small compared to the standard measure for this species. As such, it is worth recording their size somewhere.

On the weekend, I went to 7 Mile Beach, just south from Gerroa, north-east from Nowra. While in the Littoral Rainforest there, I saw literally thousands of a type of Mosquito Orchid growing so densely on the ground that their leaves almost formed a carpet below the long grasses. Unfortunately those plants were not yet in flower. They had buds, half grown, but they were obviously different to the Dark Mosquito Orchids which I had found on Tourist Road at the end of March. They were definitely of the same genus, however.

Yet more weird Orchids

Firstly, an update. David Jones, the CSIRO Orchid specialist from the Australian National Herbarium has told me that the little Helmet Orchids I had located are in fact the relatively common Corybas aconitiflorus. While they are much smaller than standard, David thinks that these flowers may develop to a larger size, as the flowers mature. I shall monitor them, and advise in due course. This flower is a mere 5.5 mm front to back.

I like the little "forked tongue" which is just visible emerging from underneath the hood of the flower. You need to click on the photo to see that detail, but when you see it, it is quite delightful.

It reminds me of a wonderful photo of another "forked tongue" taken by David Young, and put up on his blog. When you think about how fast the movement of a snake's tongue is, and that this snake is a mere hatchling, and so is quite small, how good is that photo?

Now, don't take my word for it, but this tiny ground Orchid is called "Freak Midge Orchid" (Corunastylis apostasioides). *** It has been re-classified from the Genoplesium genus to the Corunastylis genus. Here is a link to an antique botanical print of this plant. This link is to further prints by R.D. Fitzgerald, Deputy Surveyor General of NSW, and a botanist, artist and poet. Apparently, Fitzgerald was one of those "well-rounded men" of which the Victorian era seems to have had a plentiful supply.

The flowers of this particular Orchid barely open at all. They have a system of self-pollination which makes insects irrelevant in the process of their fertilisation.

That process is called "apomixis". Many other ground Orchids have this ability of being "self-pollinating", as do a number of other plants. But most Midge Orchids do open normally for insect pollination, so that presumably warrants the name of "freak".
* I have since been advised that my flower is most likely to be Corunastylis fimbriata, which species does open normally, and is pollinated by insects. It seems that my specimen was most likely to be just one that had finished flowering already, and had closed, after being pollinated. That's what experienced Orchid people tell me, anyway.

*** Update. I was right after all. In March 2008 I found open flowers of these plants, and established that they are C. apostasioides after all. See my post of 15.4.2008 for a review of the local members of the Corunastylis genus.

Here is another Greenhood. This is a more "conventional" type, being green, for a start, not minute, and brown or the large and beautiful reddish or rust coloured, as with some others I have shown recently.

This is Diplodium obtusum, the "Blunt-tongue Greenhood", which occurs from Taree, NSW to Bowral, so this would appear to be close to its southern-most distribution. It has a distinctive broad "lip" underneath the hood. The "ears" are very fully formed too. Click for a larger view.

This was growing along Tourist Road, Kangaloon, in a patch of wet shaded forest. It was flowering on 28 March 2007, but there were a few others flowering there yesterday.