Martin Hingst Posted November 6, 2011 Report Share Posted November 6, 2011 Hello, one of the most exciting plants we saw in WA was for sure Cephalotus. The site was a sandy cliff near Walpole, where the plants grew directly at the vertical cliffwall. The plants were not easy to find because fully overgrown with vegetation (and therefore mostly green in colour) and difficult to reach in 2-4 m height at the wall. It took me quite some time to find a suitable spot to prepair a little path, so my two ladies could safely follow. First interesting plant I saw was this beautiful spider orchid. Not bad for the beginning! Strange beauty, isn't it? But so far no Cephalotus. Instead some beautiful Drosera pulchella. In fact those pulchella were my guides to finallly find the desired plants. A first pitcher covered in the grasses turned out to be a huge group of pitchers: Many plants were green, but even those pitchers had red peristomes and colourful markings at the lids: Here another impression of the habitat - Vera got a good shot, with Cephalotus in front of me, the sea below, and sleepy Ilva on the back Nice plant at a very scenic spot! Hope you like it - Martin 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manekineko Posted November 6, 2011 Report Share Posted November 6, 2011 GORGEOUS !!! Many thanks for sharing so beautiful pictures ! It always a pleasure for me to see pictures of cephalotus in the wild. Those ones are fantastic !!! Many many thanks !!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dimitar Posted November 6, 2011 Report Share Posted November 6, 2011 Thanks for sharing those great shots indeed! Pleasure to see Cephs in the wild Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel O. Posted November 6, 2011 Report Share Posted November 6, 2011 Hi Martin, really very nice pictures, thanks for sharing. For sure you have had a nice time while you have been there with your family. Best regards, Daniel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenofeden Posted November 6, 2011 Report Share Posted November 6, 2011 great to see them in habitat! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin Hingst Posted November 6, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 6, 2011 (edited) Thanks yes, it is really thrilling to find them in habitat. And good that it wasn't too easy... well I remember we came to the site late in the afternoon, and I had a very good - but some years old - location description. So the plan was to get to the plants, use the last half an hour of sunlight to make some photos in the setting sun, have a beer and chill. So I got my camera, two cans of Emu Export, some additional lenses for the sundown and scenery, and went on... How snobby is that but I got my rightful punishment Well, the cliff where the expected plants should grow had long come down, I had to move further and further, without finding anything! Long after sunset I finally had to give up and hardly found a way back to where I had started. Next day it took me three attempts to reach a promising part of the cliff and some more hours to succeed - but thats the better way of course! Edited November 6, 2011 by Martin Hingst Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimscott Posted November 7, 2011 Report Share Posted November 7, 2011 Nice photography! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
numpty Posted November 7, 2011 Report Share Posted November 7, 2011 It's always more rewarding when you have to work for it! A really interesting series of reports and photography ... cheers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheInactiveMoth Posted November 7, 2011 Report Share Posted November 7, 2011 Great photos! Nice orchids too... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwi Earl Posted November 7, 2011 Report Share Posted November 7, 2011 That must have been very exciting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dennisB Posted November 7, 2011 Report Share Posted November 7, 2011 Hi Martin when I was there 6 years ago there were thousands of cephalotus on the cliff along with many sundews. The beach was around 3 metres deep and in some cases part of the cliff had fallen onto the beach but cephs were still growing on the fallen rocks. I guess that cephs are quite salt tolerant. A local contact told me that they had had significant problems with plants being stolen but that the numbers increase again in a few years. Thanks for the great photos. Dennis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
petesredtraps Posted November 7, 2011 Report Share Posted November 7, 2011 I have a ceph which I call Walpole clone as it is decendant from a plant taken from that region. It's vigorous and like the Phil Mann clone doesn't colour up much in full sun as compared to other Cephs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin Hingst Posted November 7, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 7, 2011 Yes Earl - exciting fits, esp. up to the first find! Sorry to hear that Dennis, I thought the plants were lost due to the collapse of the cliff at that edge. Maybe a mixture of both. Something similar I've heard recently about the type location of D. citrina... cannot really understand this, as these plants are so easily available commercially. Luckily there are many locations even more difficult accessible and less known - better to keep the secrets. Regards Martin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Tonnerre Posted November 7, 2011 Report Share Posted November 7, 2011 Sometimes it is indeed better keeping secrets. Sad when populations decline because of poaching and of course the unfortunate doings of mother nature. Still, very nice pictures you have shown, i really appreciate it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mobile Posted November 7, 2011 Report Share Posted November 7, 2011 Thanks for sharing, I would love to see Cephalotus in habitat. Any idea what the blue flowers in the first picture are? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dchasselblad74 Posted November 7, 2011 Report Share Posted November 7, 2011 This is the first time I've seen good wild Ceph pics with perspective to a person next to it and a river...Very cool images indeed!! Thanks for sharing... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin Hingst Posted November 7, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 7, 2011 Dexter - the "river" is actually an inlet, so more the sea than a river. Carl, most probably a Dampiera, of the Goodeniaceae family, that is full of plants in incredible colours. Reminds me that I wanted to write a topic on the Lechenaultia plants... if you like colours, that should be interesting for you. Maybe tonight. Regards Martin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carlos Rohrbacher Posted November 10, 2011 Report Share Posted November 10, 2011 I loved! I need see this species in habitat too. Thanks for sharing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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