Journal Number 92
September 2004
THE COLUMN
Petalochilus Surprises in ER24 Taranaki
By Eric Scanlen
Gary Penniall wasn't getting much mileage from telling people about his unexpected orchid finds
in Taranaki or even showing them wilted specimens so he got out his camera and photographed,
most proficiently, a clutch of new records for ER24, Taranaki. The Column thought they were
worthy of mention as detailed below.
Petalochilus aff. pusillus (Figs. 5,6,7) flowers from 13-26 October above a steep, Moki Road, batter slope. The site is a 2-5m wide, mossy to grassy, east-west ridge, about 100m long, open with some manuka to the south and patchy shade to the north.
These 8mm wide flowers (5 min. to 10 max.) have rounded sepals like P. bartlettii but without the tiny apiculi at the tip. Outside, the tepals have a red midrib and crowded, red, sessile glands, a bit like P. aff. chlorostylus and P. "nitida rosea" but with an added cluster of stiff white hairs near the tips.
The red cheeks on the anther are reminiscent of P. "nitida rosea" but the blunt little connective is more like a Stegostyla. The six pairs of yellow topped disc calli with four biggies clustered behind are all P. minor but the yellow midlobe is a blend of the trough of P. bartlettii and the broad triangle of P. variegatus.
Possibly an hybrid of those multiple taxa (?) but it has rounded petal tips, unique in NZ Petalochilus. Add in the green stem, shading up to crimson, also crimson stripes on the sepals, shading down to green half way down the ovary and you have a rather eye-catching species-in-waiting, don't you think?
Ian St George tagged it from specimens he saw [J82:15] on the Puffer track, Kaitoke, and at Kaimaumau. The Column has a close replica from the Shenstone Block, Te Paki, filed as P. bartlettii. This is the mystery taxon that the Group first called Caladenia minor in Field Guide 1. Not quite that but getting close.
| Petalochilus "nitida rosea" from HB Matthews' manuscript, is a "northern counties" denizen, "in vicinity of kauri trees" never since recorded south of Waitiki Landing so Gary shot it (Fig 8) at Moki Road, definitely out of kauri's, albeit with tepals a brighter pink but the four marginal calli are there at the base of the yellow midlobe, the dorsal sepal has the proper speckles inside and all the other characters fit. Flowering from 5-29 November. |
|
 |
| |
|
|
 Petalochilus variegatus Col (Fig 9) the big pink of Iwitahi. Gary found 29, with only two still flowering on 29 Nov 2003 in ER24, Waitiri Track, Omoana. He caught these on film despite the uproarious yarns being swapped by his incorrigible field party of Glyn Wren, Margaret Menzies and Ina McLellan.
Flowering was from 5-29 November. Apart from its slightly wider midlobe and scattered disc calli, this one is difficult to separate from P. "nitida rosea" in a key where, according to botanical dogma, colour differences and size are excluded.
Colour and sizewise, the difference is simple; P. variegatus is bigger, has pink anthers, bright green ovary, bud and column back.
P. "nitida rosea" has dark cerise anthers, 3 maroon stripes down the sepal ridges of the green ovaries, maroon midrib and sessile red glands on a pale green bud, column red barred across the base with a maroon crown. Both have pink speckles inside pale green dorsal sepals.
Gary also had some half sized specimens there with the requisite stray calli and an unheard of
dark red bar under the labellum. Let us call it P. variegatus "slender".
Petalochilus aff. variegatus (?) Disputed by some, close to P. variegatus but lacking the stray disc calli, has more white on the mid midlobe and sometimes has plain pink inside the dorsal sepal instead of the pink-speckles-on-pale-green. Those with a plain pale pink dorsal sepal also have the maroon column crown at Iwitahi.
On 19 Dec 2003 Gary shot one (Fig 10) of the latter on Waitiri Track, brighter pink tepals than Iwitahi specimens, also more white again on the midlobe, maroon column crown okay but dark cerise anthers like P. "nitida rosea", 47 km due north at Moki Road.
Structurally, Gary's had one basal marginal callus to the midlobe (like P. "speckles") but otherwise
it had yellow, glandular margins to a broad midlobe like P. (aff.) variegatus. The Column favours
P. aff. variegatus for this one, has anyone got a better answer?
Petalochilus "chloroleuca", also tagged in HBM's 1928 manuscript, is a 1-3 flowered taxon akin to
P. minor. It was caught by Gary also on that prolific Waitiri Track, 23 & 29 November (Figs 11,12). The Column has spotted twin flowered ones at theShenstone Block but Gary's are tri-floral classics.
Henry had them as common north of Auckland but they are hard to find now and Gary's find seems to be a first for ER24. They have heavy red barring to almost solid colour inside labellum wings and the column, matching Henry's description as do the midlobe's "3 long calli on each side with a glandular fringe to the point.
Petalochilus minor classic blooms (Fig 13) all-green-outside, white tepals inside and a red
barred labellum with toothed margin to the midlobe, at both Waitiri Track (29 November 2003)
and Moki Rd. (29 November 2002) confirm that this species is alive and well in ER 24.
 Gastrodia "long column" (Fig 14) at Hickman Rd Urenui (just out of ER24 in ER 25 Egmont) 18 or more flowering, 1-31 January.
They are scented and look just like the sensu stricto form of Hugh Wilson's from Stewart Island (as does the Owhango taxon, J67:21) but they don't produce seed either. In the open on the south side of native bush and in dappled shade, Gary's will be getting too much light like those in the bark gardens at Invercargill which also didn't set seed.
The curious pattern of erect buds, dropping to plumb flowers, show in the pies but confirmation
is needed of flowers in deep shade, rising again as numerous erect seed capsules, just to be sure. Gary has been following their erratic flowering pattern for some years, from none, to a few to numerous tubers sprouting forth. So it seems that they only flower when conditions suit; like all the other Gastrodia.
ER 25, Egmont turned on a nice Petalochilus aff. chlorostylus
(Fig 15) for Gary on 18 December 2003 at Carrington Rd. Pukeiti, all dark red stemmed with the typical dark red sepal ridges up the ovary, and green petal wedges between.
Crowded, sessile, red glands on the sepals added to the toothed margins of the midlobe, confirm this taxon of Bruce Irwin's.
Gary's splendid photography and his penchant for native orchids, is an example to anyone with a reasonable single lens reflex camera who needs evidence to convince the doubting Thomases about their orchid finds. Get some extension tubes (or a good digi camera) and a flash gun and show them exactly what you have found and keep the fresh evidence for as long as it takes.
Gary is struggling against the odds at this time so our prayers, hopes and earnest best wishes
are with him.
|
