Journal Number 88
September 2003

NOTES etc

Petalochilus bartlettii was said to be an orchid of the kauri zone, but there is no doubt it
grows in the Aorangi State Forest Park and at Craigie Lea in the southern Wairarapa, and
furthermore Graeme Jane has reported it from near Nelson.

Do you grow NZ native orchids? Would you be happy to have overseas collectors or
scientists keen to get NZ orchid plants, seeds or flasks legally, referred to you? If so please
contact Ian St George.

Eric Scanlen wrote, "Bob Bates was keen to see pictures of our Linguella puberula from Billy
Goat Track, to see if it lined up with any of the many South Australian L.nana aggregate, so I
sent him some slides and he responded:

'L. puberula seems to have features of our 4 commonest 'nanas' in SA. It has the crinkle edged leaves of our 'coastal Linguella' from coastal sandhills, the laterally compressed flowers of 'mallee Linguella' and the white 'hairs' on the stem of our 'mountain Linguella' and 'Desert Linguella'.

So obviously it is not a SA escapee."'

The Natural History Museum (London) Picture Library has launched its new website.
Once you have registered and received your password you can ' search through a range of images using common or scientific keywords, artists' names (Forster, Parkinson), you can save pictures in a personal lightbox for future reference or to email to your colleagues, and you can request an immediate price quote on-line. The museum has a stunning selection of scientific illustrations.

Look at www.nhm.ac.uk/piclib.

An international workshop on orchid population dynamics will be held in Haapsalu, Estonia and Hiiumaa island on 27 June-2 July 2004, organized by the Institute of Zoology and Botany, Estonian Agricultural University and the Estonian Orchid Protection Club, http://www.zbi.ee/Est2004.

Half a century of population studies in Orchidaceae have revealed several mechanisms responsible for fluctuations in orchid populations. However, adequate models for the demographic processes in orchid populations are still to be worked out. Long-term observations are very much needed, because in many species germination and underground protocorm development is a very extended process, mature individuals are long-lived, and in case of dormancy in adult plants this period may last for several years. These strategies vary from species to species. Hopefully more attention will be paid to the underground structures of orchid plants and clonal growth. Demographic studies have so far too seldom been accompanied by genealogical analysis of orchid populations.

This workshop will be the third (after 1990 South-Limburg, The Netherlands, and 2001 Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic) in a series dedicated to orchid population studies. Topics: Long-term population dynamics; Climate change and orchid populations; Strategies of short and long-lived orchids; Dormancy; Clonal reproduction; Mycorrhizal connections in orchid demography; Pollination biology and seed production.

Pre-registration is open: send a message to tiiu@zbi.ee or a letter or a fax to Tiiu Kull, Institute
of Zoology and Botany, Riia 181, Tartu 51014 Estonia, fax +372 7 383013.

Haapsalu is a resort town on the west coast of Estonia, well known for centuries for its warm sea water, curative mud and peaceful atmosphere. The conference excursion will visit Hiiumaa island in the eastern part of the Baltic Sea, 22 km from the mainland. Nearly 60% of the island is wooded, and there are large marsh areas. 31 orchid species grow in Hiiumaa.

The Orchid Specialist Group (OSG) (of which NZNOG is a member - Ed.) of the IUCN Species Survival Commission (SSC) is proud to announce the launch of its web site at
http://go.to/orchid-specialist-group.

Quite independently Chris Ecroyd wrote, "I think it should be made clear to members that
we do not have to use all the recent generic name changes. Only when a name is proved to be illegitimate or if a species is clearly placed in the wrong genus are we obliged to accept the change.

By accepting all the changes we are in fact hindering communication between members. In fact I would go as far as saying that we will see a decline in membership with many thinking they can't be bothered with all these new names. In this country we would be much better retaining the old concepts of Corybas, Pterostylis etc."

This is an important discussion for Iwitahi 2003, and a further good reason for the Group to have an Executive that can take these policy decisions - Ed.