Journal Number 100
August 2006

FROM THE AUSTRALIAN GROUPS

Western Australian Native Orchid Society
By Noel Clarke, Vice President WANOS

Congratulations to your Group on successfully attaining your 25 years' activity.
Thank you for inviting us to contribute.

The Western Australian Native Orchid Society was formed in 1974 by a group of members of the West Australian Orchid Society, initially as a subgroup and subsequently as an entity of its own. Membership of our Group has varied reaching about 150 members but these days is down to about 100 mostly city and country with a few interstate and one American member.

We meet monthly on the third Wednesday from March to November at the Kings Park offices.
Any of your members visiting Perth at meeting time are welcome to attend the meeting and join us on any trips we have organised.

We always have a guest speaker; recently we have had a few PowerPoint presentations courtesy of a grant from the Lotteries Commission of WA that enabled us to purchase a laptop and digital projector.

We have several field trips during the year mostly covering 300 km. We take advantage of long weekends to visit distant locations such as Esperance and Walpole. The current price of petrol has put a damper on these activities this year along with a very dry season. Some members who have gone on individual trips have reported less or no sightings, though the underground orchid flowered because of showers we had in January. In normal years our orchids can be seen throughout the year sometimes involving long distances for just one species.

For the last few years DRF species Caladenia huegelii has been a focus of attention as developers eye the areas it grows on. Thelymitra variegata in its differing coloured forms is of interest to locals and visitors (photo). It varies from the northern to the southern section of SW WA, the best being in the Ongerup area.

Our Group is affiliated with the WA Conservation Council with two representatives. Over the years we have successfully lobbied to save orchid populations from demise by road building or development of land. It has not been all plain sailing however; we have lost a few.

Some members in our early days attempted growing orchids mostly obtained on rescue digs when land was being cleared. Most attempts were failures. Some members still persist with a modicum of success in the light of successful techniques discovered by researchers at the Conservation and Land Management laboratory in Kings Park. My personal observation is that it's better to leave them where they grow for others to see and enjoy.

Our email address is wanoscg@iinet.net.au. Our web address is wanativeorchidsociety.net.