Sean Spence Posted September 25, 2007 Report Share Posted September 25, 2007 Disclaimer: Photo quality is a little poor unless you enlarge using the link above each photo. Last weekend I went out for a days CP hunting with a couple of friends, Steve & Julian. We visited 2 locations in search of CPs as well as native orchids that are both hitting their peak at the moment. I’ll begin with the second spot as the CP population was much more impressive there. The second spot contained little variation in CP but an amazing array of orchids. Okay, first up is the area we visited in the afternoon. It’s a largish reserve surrounded by housing in an outer suburb of Melbourne. Very few areas of native bushland remain in this part of the city, this one managed to escape being razed as it was an early military base (early 1800’s) and quarantine area for those unfortunate enough to contract venereal diseases. Nowadays the area has been reserved. Much of the reserve in covered in sandy heathland and dry Eucalypt forest. It is however, the presence of a power transmission line that allows the CP species to flourish in this area. Underneath the line is kept mown and a number of depressions hold water well into summer. Anyway, on with a few photos- A habitat shot of a heathland trail looking across the transmission line to a burnt tract of wet Meleleuca scrub. Drosera binata was once found there, prior to the drought. Steve and Julian on the heathland track photographing some of the Thelymitra antennifera (Rabbits Ears) in the shots following this one. Thelymitra antennifera (Rabbits Ears) a type of Sun Orchid. Also found along the side of the track were specimens of Drosera macrantha ssp. planchonii. These were well past their best and were completely devoid of dew. Seed formation was well under way, the ovaries almost ripe. To the right of the burnt area from the earlier shot a sandy slope had also been burnt. Very little was found on the slope besides a few tiny plants of Drosera glanduligera. These were quite pitiful as the area was quite dry and exposed. The plants seemed to be putting all of their energy into flower production rather than the leaves. Off the heathland track and onto another sandy path that led into sparse Eucalypt vegetation. Here Steve & Julian can be seen photographing the plants from the images following this one. Glossodia major (Large Waxlip Orchid) Throughout this area, Drosera whittakerii ssp. aberrans occurred in immense colonies. Like D. macrantha ssp. planchonii they were past their best and preparing for dormancy. A few were still in flower though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sean Spence Posted September 25, 2007 Author Report Share Posted September 25, 2007 (edited) Also found here was a species of Donkey Orchid, Diuris orientis And a lovely member of the Fabaceae, a species of Bossiaea As well as the Wedding Bush, Ricinocarpus sp. Next it was over to the transmission line which bounds one side of the reserve. Years ago, Drosera spatulata and D. binata could be found in large colonies in the wetter areas. They have been lost in the past decade or so and replaced by the tuberous Drosera. Utricularia dichotoma can be found in massive colonies a touch later in the year, but the tiny U. tenella was out and about for us today. I nearly stepped on a large Copperhead snake while walking across the grasses and tried to get a few photos as it took off. The damn thing wouldn’t stop though. In this photo you can see the U. tenella flowers as well as the rosettes of D. pygmaea and D. peltata var. peltata The cleared area contained a remarkable amount of erect tuberous Drosera. Four forms of the Drosera peltata group could be found- D. peltata var. foliosa, peltata var. peltata, peltata var. foliosa & auriculata. Also present were the U. tenella, developing scapes of U. dichotoma as well as D. glanduligera, pygmaea & whittakerii ssp. aberrans. In some spots, all of these plants could be found together in a square metre! The habitat A couple of shots of Steve & Julian photographing the U. tenella among others… It was impossible to walk without crushing Drosera. Some areas were thick with them. Here you can see the grassy habitat. The golden glow in the distance is D. peltata var. peltata. Some shots to illustrate how thick the plants were. These are all forms of D. peltata var. peltata. Edited January 29, 2010 by Sean Spence Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sean Spence Posted September 25, 2007 Author Report Share Posted September 25, 2007 Some closer shots of D. peltata var. peltata A form with a red base. These appeared to be close to D. peltata var. gracilis, but lacked the incredibly long flowerscape. D. peltata var. foliosa was not as common but could still be seen in large colonies. This variety is much more compact than the other forms of peltata and much more golden in colour. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sean Spence Posted September 25, 2007 Author Report Share Posted September 25, 2007 And for those who struggle to pick the difference, a shot (of very poor quality) of the two growing side by side. Larger plants of D. glanduligera were found in one small colony. These were bigger than the others encountered but still quite small. And that was all for this location. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sean Spence Posted September 25, 2007 Author Report Share Posted September 25, 2007 Earlier in the day we visited another spot more reknowned for its orchids than Drosera. For those interested, a few shots of the orchids seen follow. We also saw D. auriculate growing here as well as D. whittakerii ssp. aberrans, no photos were taken of them though. 73 species of orchid can be found a a tiny area only around 1km long. Most species are found within 10 metres of the roadside. Arachnorchis oenichila Arachnorchis tentaculata Bunochilus melogrammus Diuris orientis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sean Spence Posted September 25, 2007 Author Report Share Posted September 25, 2007 The yellow form Diuris behrii Lyperanthus suaveolens Petalochilus carneus Petalochilus catenatus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sean Spence Posted September 25, 2007 Author Report Share Posted September 25, 2007 Pterostylis alpina Pterostylis pedunculata And finally the quite unattractive Nemacianthus caudatus and that's all for now. Hope you enjoyed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iggy Posted September 25, 2007 Report Share Posted September 25, 2007 Fantastic area !!! The orchids are beautiful,I like the Diuris orientis. Also the sundews are... Thanks for your report!! Iggy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrAlmond Posted September 25, 2007 Report Share Posted September 25, 2007 Peltatas are incredible! I love them! Thank you for sharing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Crane Posted September 25, 2007 Report Share Posted September 25, 2007 Well done Sean.. I havent got through it all yet but I really enjoy your trips out!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin Hingst Posted September 25, 2007 Report Share Posted September 25, 2007 Great report, Sean-I'd like to say as usual, but this time especially nice. Though I love to see some nice utricularia there, I have to admit your orchid pics are at least as interesting. Thanks for sharing Martin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenofeden Posted September 25, 2007 Report Share Posted September 25, 2007 great display! I disagree with your last comment though, it is very attractive! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maxposwillo Posted September 25, 2007 Report Share Posted September 25, 2007 WOW Amazing!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimscott Posted September 26, 2007 Report Share Posted September 26, 2007 I love DSL, when I can use it! No George? Love the tuberous sundews! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sean Spence Posted September 27, 2007 Author Report Share Posted September 27, 2007 I love DSL, when I can use it! No George? Love the tuberous sundews! Hi Jim, No, no more George. He now lives about 5000kms away in Western Australia. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
venusflytrapman Posted September 28, 2007 Report Share Posted September 28, 2007 Am I right in thinking that tuberous drosera are annuals instead of perrenials? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimscott Posted September 28, 2007 Report Share Posted September 28, 2007 Sean... I don't suppose Paul Hogan has expressed any interest in CP's... Seriously, I think it fortuitous that you live where the most interesting of CP species exist... not to mention the birds, snakes, and tropical fish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chug Posted September 30, 2007 Report Share Posted September 30, 2007 Great shots, the orchids and carnie plants are looking fantastic. I must say I am more impressed with the spider orchids than anything, but thats just me. ;) Looking forward to seeing more of your shots when you have them. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carlos Rohrbacher Posted October 2, 2007 Report Share Posted October 2, 2007 Great job Sean, I loved this orchids an Drosera (but I still don't know differentiate the subspecies of Drosera peltata) Thanks for sharing :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Posted October 2, 2007 Report Share Posted October 2, 2007 Wonderful as ever! How the sunlight plays on those D. peltata bushes... Frank Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duane Posted October 2, 2007 Report Share Posted October 2, 2007 Wow wow and even more wow Im in complete awe of your fieldtrips , you really are a lucky lucky man to be living near to just such a diverse amount of Drosera . Duane Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheCarnifreak Posted October 7, 2007 Report Share Posted October 7, 2007 Huge peltata fields , I've never seen anything like this before... Fantastic! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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