Journal Number 110
November 2008

Notes etc

While researching Colenso's letters to Kew at the Alexander Turnbull Library, I came across an
interesting microfilm: in June 1885 Colenso sent a collection to JD Hooker of the plants he had
described in Volumes 16 and 17 of the Transactions.

The list included dried specimens of Corysanthes hypogaea, x Microtis longifolia, x Caladenia
variegata, Thelymitra purpureo-fusca and x T. nemoralis. Those marked with x he also sent in
spirits, along with Thelymitra formosa, Dendrobium  lessonii and Corysanthes papillosa.

Hooker's notes, written in his day-book, are appended. He wrote

• Earina alba, Col. = E. autumnalis, Hk,F.
• Microtis porrifolia, Sw. Matamau
•     " longifolia, Col. a large form of the above in our Herbarium.
• Caladenia variegata, Col. = C. minor, Hk.f.
• Thelymitra purpureo-fusca, Col. = a vary. of T. longifolia, Forst.
•   "     nemoralis, Col. = T. longifolia, Forst.
• Corysanthes papillosa, Col. in fluid, not compared.
& flowers of "Dendrobium Lessonii."
"Corysanthes hypogaea" - fluid.
• Elsewhere he noted, of Dendrobium lessonii, "Note the longitudinal ridges of labella are 4.
If D. cunninghamii have always 5 as stated this is a difference but therein I do not see as distinction.
• Earina flaccilobata Col. This is E. mucronata Ldl. of Kew Herb
• Pterostylis emarginata Col. Idd. as Pt. Banksii Br.

Gordon Sylvester wrote, "Late in 2007 I had the chance to visit Kelly's Stream  ED 50.02 with
members of the Canterbury Orchid Society.  I made two subsequent trips after this visit to
observe several Pterostylis that had caught my eye.  I did not identify them at the time but
did take a series of photos. 

I logged them as Pt. australis or banksii cross, maybe with Pt irsoniana. Later reserach revealed
several lists mentioning the strange Pterostylis in the Waimak, Bealey Basin as well as a comment
about the bizare Pt. species at Kelly's Stream. Comparison with with Bruce Irwins drawings from
the book suggested with photo dissections of the interior of the flower that it may be Pt. irwinii.
Next summer when it arrives will see me looking at the Bealey and Waimak now."

It's hard to tell from the photograph, but it looks like the large Pterostylis (I believe unnamed) I have found
at Fox Glacier, and Eric Scanlen reported from Southland. Or is it just P. banksii? - Ed.

It was good to see Bruce Irwin honoured in Tauranga, with a two-page spread showing his
virtuosity as a botanical artist in the June issue of creativebeat, the journal of "creative tauranga",
published by the Bay of Plenty Times. Thanks to Wilma Fitzgibbon for sending us a copy.

Peter Tait, who works as a natural history guide on Ulva Island (Paterson Inlet, Stewart Island) and
has an interest in the local orchids, emailed (10 Aug 08), "A couple of weeks ago I found the first
of the year's flowerings and am somewhat puzzled as to exactly what it is. I've attached a couple
of photographs. There are several plants growing on a very damp, mossy bank and all are flowering.
I've attached some photos, not particularly good I'm afraid as my camera is pretty basic.

My own thoughts tend towards Corybas rivularis although it is flowering somewhat earlier than
is suggested by Hugh Wilson and has no purple in the flower. As you can see the "legs" lie down
across the single leaf. The photo (Fig.1) was taken when I first noticed it two weeks ago and I
presume the flower had just opened."

Figure 1

It's a bud of Nematoceras acuminatum, recorded previously from Mason Bay on Stewart Island - Ed.

Mike Lusk sent the shot (Fig.2) of an unusual Petalochilus chlorostylus from the
Wakarara area, Hawke's Bay.

Figure 2

He emailed again: "Attached (Fig.3) is a pretty Pterostylis I found last year. Eric suggested I
send it to you with some details but I am afraid I didn't record much, and I missed the labellum.
I think it would have been at the lower end of the track....What do you think?

I think it's P. cardiostigma, but its hard to tell from a photo - Ed.

Figure 3

"I'd be grateful if you'd look at another (Fig.4) Pterostylis Eric and I are unsure about.
I found it in  Dec 06 on the track closest to Camp Wakarara.
I thought it might be P. areolata.

I agree - Ed.

Figure 4

"I was doing some classifying recently and came across the attached photo (Fig.5) of probably
the ugliest Pterostylis in the land.... I found it in a shady swampy area in the headwaters of the
Hurunui, in Nov 2005, close to a hut on the Hurunui High Country Walk. It was the only one of
its type, but there were plenty of P. areolata in the area. 

If any readers plan to do the walk, which is easy and well catered I would be happy to advise
them where to look."

Figure 5

It looks like a rather deformed P. areolata - Ed.

Ewen Cameron emailed (20 Aug), "In response to Eric Scanlen's comment under Notes etc in
your last Journal [J109: p. 26] about Anzybas rotundifolius southern limit: contrary
to reporting there are specimens in AK from the Waitakeres, I can inform you that there are
no specimens labelled as such from the Waitakeres in AK herbarium. We do hold 23 Arthur
Mead collections from the Waitakeres, but only one of those is an orchid (Thelymitra pulchella).

However, we do have a fairly recent collection of A. rotundifolius from the Waikato: Opuatia
Wetlands (AK 294812, P.J. de Lange 6604 & G.M. Crowcroft, Jul 2000, 37° 26' S). I discussed
this southern limit in an article I wrote on geographical limits in the Auckland region (Auckland
Bot. Soc. Jl 60: 123-129, 2005), where I added a comment from Peter de Lange that the historical
southern limit for this species appears to be the Manawatu, based on a W. Colenso collection at Kew."

Ewen wrote again, "Eric Scanlen's comment under Notes etc in your last Journal [J109: p. 26]
about Thelymitra dispersal and that the jet stream over the Tasman Sea "moves only
eastwards" - this isn't true.

Peter Wardle (NZ J Botany 16: 535-550, 1978) pointed out that easterlies flow around the
northern sides of the anticyclones and when these are in the south of the Tasman Sea
(Wardle 1978: fig. 1), especially in the summer and autumn, they were well-placed for
anticlockwise air flow to carry ripe disseminules from New Zealand to Australia, particularly
as they are associated with fine dry weather. This timing coincides with the Thelymitra
capsules releasing their seed."

Look carefully at the paper on page 28. The Library of the Swiss Orchid Foundation at
the Herbarium Jany Renz has done an extraordinary thing. They have not only attempted
to gather pictures of all the world's orchids, but have digitised a huge range of important early
orchid books, as well as contemporary and historical orchid writing, and made all of this
accessible free on the Internet. This will save researchers all over the world time in waiting for
interloans, money in not having to buy books (and petrol and parking fines in not having to
visit libraries). This kind of altruism combined with this kind of technology makes the world
of ideas a fascinating place to live in.

Oops! Eric Scanlen emailed, "In J109:34 the Column used the old 2n=38 for the chromosome
count in Caladenia (Petalochilus) minor using the J76:10 list.  Wrong, it would seem.  Dawson et al,
NZ Journal of Botany 2007 Vol. 45, have determined the NZ C. minor and a C. aff. carneus(?) to
have 2n=40 count, apart from some with 2n=39 in the same slide preparation, but they counted
no others in the genus.  So, assuming that 2n=40 holds true for the whole Caladenia (Petalochilus)
genus which is likely, any hybrids with Stegostyla (with 2n=48) would appear to have 2n=44 and
would probably be viable.

Accordingly, Mark Moorhouse's Stegostyla "minor" could be an hybrid Caladenia x
Stegostyla as he pointed out in N/L6:5, June 1983. Alternatively, Stegostyla "minor"
(see J109:40 Fig. 24) has some common features with S. atradenia and S. lyallii agg.

Now, if some enterprising grower were to hand pollinate a cross or two, perhaps the
hypotheses could be checked out in a few years time?"

Peter de Lange received a photograph of an orchid from Great Barrier Island, identified it as Anzybas rotundifolius, and its photographer Bret McKay emailed, "I came across a group of about 5 flowering plants and about 8 plants that had either finished flowering or had no signs of flowering when I was looking for some interesting toadstools to photograph during a hike up to Mt Hobson on Great Barrier Island about 15 years ago. I had no idea as to what type of orchid it was, but when I looked it up to try and identify it wrongly assumed that it was Corybas ungiculatus, and left it at that,and it is only now that I have learned that it is quite a rare orchid,and not Corybas. The situation where I found these plants was in regenerating kauri forest among leaf litter and mosses, in fairly low light and an area that looked as if it would be fairly damp, but not water logged most of the time of the year. I would not be able to pin-point the exact location now... (it) would have been late autumn to early winter. (Fig.10 is from Exploring the Hauraki Gulf: From Bream Head to the Coromandel by Linda Bercusson and John Walsby: out mid-November, Craig Potton Publishing).		Figure 10