Journal Number 97
November 2005
NOTES etc
Take a look at these websites for an interesting range of orchids….
http://www.ne.jp/asahi/calypso/lip/japanwild.htm for wild orchids in Japan, including Yoania, Gastrodia, etc
http://www.kankyosekkei.co.jp/plantnote/Gastrodia/Gastrodia00.htm for Gastrodia pubilabiata (no, it isn't a porn site)
http://www.webace.com.au/~chook/orchids/gastrodia/gastrodia.html for G lacista; http://www.orchidspecies.com/orphotdir/gastrsiamensis.jpg for G siamensis
http://home.hiroshima-u.ac.jp/shoyaku/photo/Japan/Gunma/030819onino2.jpg for G elata.
The Travis Wetland Trust Newsletter for October 1999 reported, "The currently flowering spider
orchid has been recently identified by orchid specialist Brian Molloy, as Corybas iridescens.
It has not been previously recorded in Canterbury."
Bob Bates reports [NOSSA Journal 2005; 29 (5): 49] the much awaited Census of vascular plants of South Australia edited by Barker, Barker, Jessop & Vonow.
"The authors have taken a most conservative approach with the orchids, accepting only one of the recent new genera of Jones and Clements, Szlachetko, and Hopper & Brown, that being Pheladenia deformis to replace Caladenia deformis. All the other genera are included as synonyms….
The new Census lists about 240 species of South Australian orchids and I am aware of the existence of some sixty other unnamed species in this state. This means we now recognise some 300 species of orchid occurring in SA. This is quite a dramatic rise from the less than 120 species listed in Flora of SA 3rd edition in 1978."
The Census is available from the Adelaide Botanic Gardens, with an electronic version from the Gardens' website. |
Colin Ogle, stimulated by Brian Tyler's J96 cover photograph of a double flowered Pterostylis alobula,
rediscovered this in his archives…. are there more out there?
Double flowered Pterostylis trullifolia
photo: Colin Ogle
Graeme Jane and Gael Donaghy reported on summer in the deep south -
"This last summer we sought out Corybas in the tussock grasslands with little success. In fact everywhere we went plants of all species were late flowering - not just a few weeks but often months late. Some did not even flower, the season was so late.
Periodic snows to low levels continued to mid-january throughout the South Island mountains.
We did see Corybas leaves suspiciously like our tussock trilobus on Mt Somers, Mt Eldrig and
the Hump but no sign of flowers. The typical habitat seemed to be seepage areas (Fig. 1, below).
At Bruce Irwin's prompting we also sought out Prasophyllum and although we saw a great range
of colours (front cover, and Figs 2, 3 below) they all seemed structurally the same.
The real find for the summer is what we called Pterostylis "aeroplane", an aberrant form of
P. australis which we saw in several places on the way up to the Hump in south east Fiordland. |
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| Seepage area near the Hump |
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Prasophyllum colensoi |
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| Prasophyllum colensoi |
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Pterostylis "aeroplane" |
Graham Randle wrote, "On 15 July 05 I did a quick trip up to the East Cape to see a family member who lives in the area and to visit the Lighthouse reserve. The walk up to the lighthouse is a gut buster of over 700 steps and being in a hurry did not help. The track runs through a thick coastal forest of puriri trees, a forest quite unfamiliar to me and worth another trip.
However I did see some orchids; they are not rare but you may like the record in your files. Pterostylis trullifolia was growing along the track between the steps; most had finished flowering but a few were still in bloom and at the top of the track out in the open there was a large area of Corybas oblongus in leaf.
The whole area is worth another trip for an extended time. You never know what you could find. There are also large areas of manuka forest on the way which would be worth a look in the summer months. Hope this is of interest to you. I have not been out again since this trip but hope to go bush over the next few months for a few hours."
We look forward to hearing more, Graham; it is certainly an under-reported region - Ed. |
Nematoceras is a neuter noun. Why then the feminine specific epithets? Murray Dawson asked Brian
Molloy, who replied:
"… Briefly, a generic name ending in -ceras is deemed to be neuter. Why Hooker chose the feminine
gender for Nematoceras we will never know, but he did. The St Louis Code (ICBN 2000 is quite clear
on this matter: Article 62.1 p 100:
'A generic name retains the gender assigned by botanical tradition, irrespective of classical usage
or the author's original usage. A generic name without a botanical tradition retains the gender
assigned
by the author.'
Nematoceras lacks a botanical tradition and retains the feminine gender assigned by its author,
J.D.Hooker. Accordingly we have followed Hooker's treatment."
Brian Tyler wrote (23 August), "I was surprised to find an insect (deceased) inside a N. longipetala
from Gladstone Road when I dissected it recently. I unfortunately cut off its wing and then lost it
before I could get it under the microscope.
Ian Townsend tells me it is of the family mycetophilidae."
A fungus gnat, its head in the nectary
what a stunning photograph - Ed.
The New Zealand Journal of Botany, 2005, Vol. 43: 367-371 carried a short communication by Leah Feuerherdt and co-authors from South Australia: "Distribution of mycorrhizal fungus associated with the endangered pink-lipped spider orchid (Arachnorchis (syn. Caladenia) behrii) at Warren Conservation Park in South Australia". The very rare Caladenia behrii depends on mycorrhizal fungus.
The authors conducted ex situ seed baiting of a population of the at Warren Conservation Park to determine the distribution of the orchid's mycorrhizal fungus and to see whether it was limiting the distribution of the orchid. Forty-five samples of topsoil and organic matter were collected systematically from in and outside the orchid population. All samples were baited with C. behrii seeds and incubated for 8 weeks to assess germination. Mycorrhizal fungus was present in all the 60% of seeds that germinated: it was distributed independently of the orchids. The distribution of C. behrii thus did not appear to be limited by the distribution of mycorrhizal fungus.
Further research must focus on the inoculum potential and efficacy of the fungus/fungi in situ over a longer period, as well as other ecological aspects of the orchid's natural history, to identify the reason(s) for its rarity. |
Which way does the labellum twist? In the Pterostylis montana group it twists to the right as you face
the flower. I don't think I can recall a NZ orchid whose labellum twists left. But the Australian P. curta
has a left-twisted labellum in the few illustrations I have seen of it (see below). Does anyone have
other observations? or explanations?
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| Pterostylis aff montana |
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Pterostylis curta - drawing by Erika Stonor |
Congratulations to Gordon Sylvester, recently recognised by a DoC certificate for his work with orchids:
"The Department of Conservation acknowledges the valuable contribution Gordon Sylvester has made
to conservation through his work to record and protect rare orchids."
Gordon Sylvester with his award
The West Coast Times reported "When road maintenance on a new drain system in Kumara was threatening, Mr Sylvester took some (of the rare orchids) to raise carefully on his property, before returning them to the area once the work was complete.
An avid orchid fan since the 1950s when he lived in Napier, he found several new species in Nelson, setting a total of nine records for the beautiful plants. 'There's plenty of room out there yet,' he said."
Gordon notified DoC of the impending road works to the type locality of Pterostylis cernua. Phil Knightbridge and he consulted on the best action to take, and with the assistance of Ted Brennan and two other Doc staff collected and relocated 6 fish crates of plants from the environs of Drain 53, and relocated these onto his property for eventual relocation back to the drain when the environment had reestablished itself.
DoC and he are monitoring the populations to ensure there is no decline. "The only thing that has come out of this was the local abundance of P. cernua in the roadside drain compared to other locations on the coast where it is also known to exist.
The type locality is now a sterile environment down to bare rock and will take some time to re-establish itself. The entire drainage ditch for 8km through the Okuku Reserve has been severely modified." |
Y'all ready for this?
The Orchadian of Sep 2005 carries a taxonomic paper by DL Jones, and MA Clements which retypifies Caladenia as C. flava, and makes a number of name changes to Australasian orchids.
Those affecting NZ orchids are the new combinations Sullivania minor (R.Br.) D.L.Jones et M.A.Clem. (Paracaleana minor); Myrmechila trapeziformis (Fitzg.) D.L.Jones et M.A.Clem. (Chiloglottis trapeziformis); Myrmechila formicifera (Fitzg.) D.L.Jones et M.A.Clem. (Chiloglottis formicifera); and Prasophyllum hectori (Buchanan) Molloy, D.L.Jones et M.A.Clem. (one of the
P. aff. patens agg., if indeed there are more than one).
See note from Brian Molloy - Ed.
Reference: Jones D.L, Clements M.A. (2005). Miscellaneous nomenclatural notes and changes in Australian,
New Guinea and New Zealand Orchidaceae. Orchadian 15: 33-42.
STOP PRESS "New record!" Gordon Sylvester exclaimed (if you can exclaim in an email),
"Have just returned from a foray on private property and can report a sighting of a small colony of
Acianthus sinclairii ED 48.05 between Barrytown and Punakaiki. There were about 20 plants in the
colony in the Nikau dominant forest.
Other species nearby Nematoceras aff. trilobus, Earina mucronata and autumnalis, Winikia cunninghamii:"
There's magic out there still, folks….
Georgina Upson emailed (11 Sep), that last year, in the Moutere clay lowland of Nelson, she discovered
a curious Caladenia. White, but distinctly different to C. nothofageti; she has tagged it C. "corrugated"
in the meantime.
It is 2-2.5 times taller, up to 25cm or more, and multiflowered with up to four flowers but normally two.
The labellar midlobe is a broad, troughed triangle shorter than the tapered oblong of C. nothofageti.
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| Caladenia "corrugated" |
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Caladenia "corrugated" |
It is longitudinally corrugated resembling a crinkle cut potato chip, giving the appearance of three
lines down the midlobe. The laminar calli are tall, relatively fine, angled toward the midlobe but only
bend at the club end - whereas the laminar calli of C. nothofageti are shorter and more bent. The club
and midlobe calli are pale cream, compared with yellow to darker cream in C. nothofageti. The labellum
side lobes of this plant are translucent, a feature absent in C. nothofageti.
The flower is about a third larger, and it is a more pristine white tinged green from the pale green
outer tepal colouration. Tepals are held in a planar fashion, sometimes drooping at the extremities.
Shock! Horror! Dismay! Startled Disbelief!!! but Bruce Irwin swears it is true: at the Fifth International
Orchid Expo hosted by the Orchid Council of New Zealand, and held in Hamilton this September, the
"Award for Best New Zealand Native Orchid" was awarded to… (wait for it…)
Pterostylis nodding grace, a manmade hybrid between the Australian natives P. curta X P. nutans.
Now that is taking Closer Economic Relations too far! Or did I miss something? have we joined the
Australian federation?
Pat Enright found Nematoceras "whiskers" at Kaitoke, the first time it has been found in Ecological
Region 39.
Gordon Sylvester found these comments by Joseph Dalton Hooker as Editor in Icones Plantarum
Third series Vol part 1 page 2. Published 1877.
"When describing Corysanthes Cheesemani (Tab 1120) I left in doubt certain points of structure, in
respect of which I differed from the discoverer of the plant and from the artist whose figure is quoted
above. These I am now enabled to clear up by means of specimens in spirits, kindly communicated by
Mr. Cheeseman.
 "In none of these do I find the ligulate process figured, nor anything in its place. The base of the lip is produced downwards on each side of the mesial line into a conical hollow obtuse short spur, between which spurs the two lateral sepals, reduced to subulate ascending processes, are projected as represented in figs. 1 and 2. I find no trace of petals.
The lamina of the lip varies much in shape ; it appears usually as represented at fig. 1, but sometimes as in fig. 2, and in few cases it is reduced at the apex, having no reflected portion.
"As a species , C. Cheesemani is very clearly allied to the Australian C. fimbriata, Br., differing chiefly in the spurs of the lip and absence of petals.
"A specimen of C. (Nematoceras) macrantha, Hk. F. (Fl. N. Zeald. 1. 249, t. LVII, ; Handbook , p. 266), sent by Mr. Cheeseman with the above, shows that the petals are inserted at the base of the lip at its outer margin, one on each side, apparently on a level with the lateral sepals, which are placed between the petals, that is to say, nearer to the mesial line of the lip.
The lip is twisted from the base, so that access to
the pollen and stigma is gained from the base of
the flower, not as in Corysanthes Cheesemanii,
by the mouth of the lip. If this arrangement is
constant, and prevails through the other plants
upon which I established the genus Nematoceras,
in the New Zealand Flora, it may indicate the propriety of retaining that genus instead of merging it in Corysanthes, as I have done in the 'Handbook of New Zealand Flora.'
The whole genus demands an attentive study from the local observer, in respect of structure and
mode of impregnation. - J. D. Hooker."
"It seems," Gordon wrote, "that the experts couldn't agree 130 + years ago what is or not a correct
description. How are we supposed to make definitive identification now?"
Well, I think by looking again and again at plants, by adopting the stance that we may not have got it right the
first time, and by being prepared to accept new evidence that contradicts our former views; Hooker did just that.
He had, in his original description of Corysanthes cheesemani, described (and Fitch had illustrated - see above)
a "curious ligulate, often twisted, process, which proceeds in some specimens from the very base of the lip,
at its medial line…." Goodness knows what it was, but Hooker recognised he had got it wrong and later withdrew
and apologised.
Intriguing too, that he thought the auricles of Nematoceras macrantha to be entry points for pollinators.
I think he was wrong about that too; I have often wondered where that myth had originated - Ed.
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