John Dodunski, undeterred by the sleet, had spotted Pterostylis Montana, P. graminea and P. alobula behind the Lodge and Allan Ducker had, believe it or not, Caladenia "nitida rosea" (Photo right) further north, above the road.

Until Gary Penniall spotted C. "nitida rosea" at Moki Rd [J92:14] HB Matthews had it only for, "Northern Counties in vicinity of Kauri trees" in his 1928 manuscript. Tricia Aspin had it in bud at Awhitu on 12 Oct 04 as Allan and the Column will bear witness, but what was it doing as far south as Waikuku Lodge? and is it the real thing? Those 3 basal marginal calli to the midlobe are a bit short, and the side lobes to the labellum aren't supposed to be crumpled up like that although this could be due to compression in the bud. Otherwise it has all the physical attributes of C. "nitida rosea" even if the pink colour is somewhat lacking.

27 Nov 04 with sleet showers dwindling, unlike the southerly half gale, the main party headed up Mill Track along a westerly ridge where Thelymitra nervosa (decora) masquerading as T. hatchii but with give-away white cilia, T. aff. pauciflora and T. longifolia were all sensibly locked in bud.

But a colony of Stegostyla "subalpine" (was Caladenia "subalpine" ) [J88:18; J78 top of colour p3] were braving the elements with single, double and one treble flowered specimen (Photo right). Whoever has seen a 3 flowered one before?

All the specimens had the 4 rows of disc calli (Photo upper right), not the 2 rows of Hooker's Caladenia lyallii), all had basal marginal calli to the midlobe, qualifying them for the Column's tentative tag, from Iwitahi, of S. "subalpine".

David Jones' reassessment [Ref. 1 & J63:4] where such calli were not included in S. lyallii, does give these some affinity with his S. alpina which does have basal marginal calli. Note the prominent red bars inside the labellum and column; most of the Column's shots from Iwitahi had no red bars yet had red stems and red glands on the dorsal sepal.

Some of these specimens had the leading edges of the column wings folded across at right angles but the Column's photos were a flop! S. "lytuck" (was Caladenia "lytuck") from Iwitahi [J78:263 Plate 10] had this trait but had only 4 rows of calli atop the midlobe, not the 6-8 on S. "subalpine" but little else differed. In the meantime, they are still being kept separate in the Column's files. More observations please.

Struggling further up the track in poncho, windbreaker, jumper, longs and leggings, the Column was pleased to be shown an uncomplicated Caladenia aff. variegata (Photo right No3) with its 2 clear rows of disc calli, no calli atop the labellum midlobe and probably 2n=38 chromosomes.

Note that Stegostyla spp [2] have a hooded dorsal sepal, calli all down the length of the midlobe, 2-6 rows of disc calli and 2n=48 chromosomes, supposing all taxa comply. These chromosome counts would virtually prohibit natural hybridism so the Column is happy to keep them as separate genera in the interim.

Allan and the Column then took a detour, in rising temperatures, down a leading spur towards Southerland Track in the valley below.The forest here had long since been milled over, then grassed and was now regenerating to scrub/forest again in the Haurangi State Forest Park.

One bare patch, still in evidence, had 2 Caladenia variegata s.s. (Photo right No4). Those outer 2 "rows" are asymmetrical and other stray calli are in evidence so it complies fairly closely to Colenso's description except that disc calli are straying onto the base of the midlobe which is forbidden.

Several patches of Nematoceras (Corybas) triloba in the bushy places had no flowers and could do with follow up. Down on Southerland Tk. were Neville and Cath Henderson, over from UK for the NZ summer(?). Orthoceras novae-zelandiae were in bud and a Caladenia variegata flowered at the edge with crowded disc calli, some also advancing onto the midlobe (Photo lower right).This species, originally described for the mutant form, never has two patterns of disc calli the same, it would seem.

Allan and the Hendersons had meanwhile come across legions of Pterostylis aff. patens  for want of a better handle, numerous on a grassy bank and along the road batter below. Ian St George had asked us specifically about this taxon [J70: cover]. Some of the party had seen it further down the track at stream side. It has numerous closely similar specimens, reasonably wide distribution and could well be considered for specific classification.