Australian Terrestrial Orchids
Shelley Gage (Mon, 07 May 2012 03:19:57 PDT)
Dear Paul,
You are right. We do have many examples of terrestrial orchids.- I remember a field trip with the Maryborough Orchid Society some years ago and in two areas not far form my home on coastal woodlands we identified and photographed in flower 14 different orchids as well as a couple of unidentified Pterostylis. Some momths later we went back and found the area ablaze with Diuris which were not in flower on our first visit and added Cryptostylus to our list as well. This was nearly 20 years ago and when I retire I plan to explore the area thoroughly. I am not sure if it is State Forest or National Park but since the area floods I can't imagine it will ever be developed thank goodness. I can send you the list if you are interested.
Shelley Gage near Gympie, Queensland, Australia
Date: Mon, 7 May 2012 10:49:12 +1000
To: pbs@lists.ibiblio.org
From: ptyerman@ozemail.com.au
Subject: Re: [pbs] Australian Terrestrial Orchids
At 11:17 PM 6/05/2012, you wrote:
Dear Andrew, There are bulbous orchids like
Calanthe for example and non-bulbous like many
Dendrobiums so I guess they are like any other
group of plants which have bulbous and
non-bulbous forms so I wouldn't imagine this
group discussing all orchids only the bulbous
ones. I will be very interested to see what
others think.I have yet to visit the Western
Australian orchid areas but will one day. There
is an excellent article on them and their
locations in a recent Australian Native Plant
Society magazine.Shelley Gage, SE Queensland, Australia
Shelley et al,
There are a lot more Aussie terrestrial orchids
than just those over in Western Australia. They
grow throughout NSW, Victoria, Tasmania, South
Australia and I am sure you have some relatively
local ones in Queensland too. Pterostylis (or
what used to be that genus, now split into a few
different ones) grow for me here locally, as do a
number of species of Diuris (Donkey Orchids),
Corybas (or their associated types that are now
in different genuses), Beardies, Flying Ducks,
Caladenias, Chiloglottis etc. All these that I
mention are tuberous (and all are fully
deciduous, dying back to some form of tuber
completely buried in the ground) , although some
are extremely hard to grow in cultivation. I
grow probably 20 different Pterostylis, a dozen
or more Diuris, Thelymitras, Chiloglottis,
Corybas (badly! <grin>), as well as any other
non-Aussie terrestrials that I can ever track
down. There are even some Aussie natives like
Microtis unifolia that really are just a weed
here, popping up in pots all over the place. Now
if they were a bit more spectacular that would be
great, but they most definitely aren't!! LOL
I'm just mentioning this to show that there are a
lot more Aussie terrestrials than just those in
the west. While some of ours over in the East
might not be as breathtaking as some of the
western stuff, they are mostly easier to grow,
and I still get a lot of pleasure out of
them. When the Diuris for example are in flower
you really cannot miss them. I remember as a
child growing up there was a patch of Diuris on
our property (if only we still owned that
property, knowing what I know now about
cultivating them) that was about 2m x 1m and must
have had 200+ flower stems. So beautiful. Now
if only I could grow the Beardies and the Flying Ducks?
Cheers.
Paul T.
Canberra, Australia - USDA Zone Equivalent approx. 8/9
Min winter temp -8 or -9°C. Max summer temp 40°C.
Thankfully, maybe once or twice a year only.
Growing an eclectic collection of plants from all
over the world including Aroids, Crocus,
Cyclamen, Erythroniums, Fritillarias, Galanthus,
Terrestrial Orchids, Irises, Liliums, Trilliums
(to name but a few) and just about anything else that doesn't move!!
_______________________________________________
pbs mailing list
pbs@lists.ibiblio.org
http://pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php
http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/