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Journal of the
Native Orchid Society of
South Australia Inc
Print Post Approved .Volume 34 Nº 11
PP 543662/00018 December 2010
NATIVE ORCHID SOCIETY OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA PO BOX 565 UNLEY SA 5061
www.nossa.org.au.
The Native Orchid Society of South Australia promotes the conservation of orchids through
the preservation of natural habitat and through cultivation. Except with the documented
official representation of the management committee, no person may represent the Society on
any matter. All native orchids are protected in the wild; their collection without written
Government permit is illegal.
PRESIDENT SECRETARY Bodo Jensen: Robert Lawrence
Telephone 8243 0251 ph: 8294 8014 Email: [email protected]
VICE PRESIDENT
Cathy Houston telephone 8356 7356; Email: [email protected]
COMMITTEE Bob Bates Jan Adams
John Bartram Robert Lawrence
EDITOR TREASURER David Hirst Marj Sheppard
14 Beaverdale Avenue Telephone 8344 2124
Windsor Gardens SA 5087 0419 189 118
Telephone 8261 7998
Email: [email protected]
LIFE MEMBERS
Mr R. Hargreaves† Mr. L. Nesbitt
Mr H. Goldsack† Mr G. Carne
Mr R. Robjohns† Mr R Bates
Mr J. Simmons† Mr R Shooter
Mr D. Wells† Mr W Dear
Conservation Officer: Thelma Bridle Registrar of Judges: Les Nesbitt
Field Trips Coordinator: Bob Bates 82515251 or 0402 291 904 or [email protected]
Trading Table: Judy Penney
Tuber bank Coordinator: Jane Higgs ph. 8558 6247; email: [email protected]
New Members Coordinator: Bill Dear ph: 82962111 mob.: 0413 659 506
PATRON Mr L. Nesbitt
The Native Orchid Society of South Australia, while taking all due care, take no responsibility for loss or damage
to any plants whether at shows, meetings or exhibits.
Views or opinions expressed by authors of articles within this Journal do not necessarily reflect the views or
opinions of the management committee. We condone the reprint of any articles if acknowledgment is given
Journal Cost $2. per issue. Family or Single Membership with subscription $20.00*
*Postal Mail full year $20.00. Email full year $15.00. Pro-rata rates for third quarter $10.00 and last quarter $5.00
Students $10.00 per year. Juniors $5.00
Front cover from an original drawing by Thelma Bridle. Used with her kind permission.
JOURNAL OF THE
NATIVE ORCHID SOCIETY
OF
SOUTH AUSTRALIA INC.
DECEMBER 2010 VOL. 34 NO 11
CONTENTS THIS JOURNAL
Title Author Page
Diary Dates 99
November Meeting 100
For Your Information – NOSSA News 101
Unsuccessful with Honey Les Nesbitt 101
Report on NOSSA Show 2010 and APS Show sales Bill Dear 102
Tuber Removal Works Well Les Nesbitt 102
Epiphytic Species No. 5 - Dendrobium gracilicaule Les Nesbitt 103
We Have Pods Les Nesbitt 103
Phaius tankervilleae (Banks) Blume 1852 Len Field 103
NOSSA Tuber Bank for 2010/2011 Jane Higgs 105
Subscriptions 2011 107
The Native Orchid Society of South Australia meets every
4th
Tuesday of the months February -November
NEXT MEETING 22 FEBRUARY 2011
Tuesday, 22 February, St Matthew's Hall, Bridge Street, Kensington. Meeting starts at
8:00 p.m. Doors to the hall will be open from 7:15 p.m. to allow Members access to the
Library and trading table.
The February meeting will be a Question and Answer night.
NEXT COMMITTEE MEETING
Tues, 1st February. Meeting commences at 7:30 p.m.
DIARY DATES
January 2nd
2011 Meet 10:00a.m. at Heathfield for Dipodium walk at Nurrutti
NOVEMBER MEETING
Plants Benched
Epiphyte Species: Dendrobium monophyllum; Dendrobium canaliculatum: Cymbidium madidum;
Sarcochilus hartmanii (2 plants).
Epiphyte Hybrids: Sarcochilus Dove; Sarcochilus Heidi; Sarcochilus Velvet ‘Chocolate’;
Sarcochilus Yellow Cascades x George Colthup.
Terrestrial Species: Caladenia tentaculata; Diuris drummondii; Diuris sulphurea ‘Golden Dragon’;
Diuris punctata; Phiaius tankervilliae (2 plants).
Terrestrial Hybrids: Diuris sulphurea x brevifolia; Diuris brevifolia x sulphurea.
Judging Results Grower
Epiphyte Species Open Division
1st Dendrobium monophyllum Steve Howard
2nd
Dendrobium canaliculatum Bodo Jensen
3rd Sarcochilus hartmanii ’Red-Heart’ Les Nesbitt
Epiphyte Hybrid Open Division
1st Sarcochilus Yellow Cascades x George Colthup P & M Hockey
2nd
Sarcochilus Heidi P & M Hockey
3rd
Sarcochilus Dove P & M Hockey
Epiphyte Hybrid Second Division
1st Sarcochilus Velvet ‘Chocolate’ Kris Kopicki
No 2nd
or 3rd
Terrestrial species Open Division
1st Phiaius tankervilliae Bub Wells
2nd Phiaius tankervilliae Les Nesbitt
3rd Caladenia tentaculata Les Nesbitt
Terrestrial Hybrids Open Division
1st Diuris brevifolia x sulphurea Les Burgess
No 2nd
or 3rd
Popular vote results
Terrestrial species Open Division Phiaius tankervilliae Bub Wells
Terrestrial Hybrid Open Division
Diuris brevifolia x sulphurea Les Burgess Terrestrial species Second Division
Diuris punctata Kris Kopicki Epiphyte Species Open Division Dendrobium canaliculatum Bodo Jensen
Epiphyte hybrid Open Division Sarcochilus Yellow Cascades x George Colthup P & M Hockey
Epiphyte hybrid Second Division Sarcochilus Velvet Chocolate Kris Kopicki Orchid of the night Sarcochilus Yellow Cascades x George Colthup P & M Hockey
Commentaries on terrestrials given by Les Burgess & on epiphytes by Graham Zerbe
100
Friends of Private Bushland
This South Australian group is for people who own or help to maintain areas of bush on
private land. Many of our members own Sanctuaries, Wildlife Refuges or have areas of
Heritage Agreement bush on their land.
The group operates through the volunteer efforts of its members, with assistance from the
Department of Environment and Heritage, and is affiliated with Friends of Parks Inc.
Friends of Private Bushland was set up in 1992 to provide support for owners and managers
of natural bushland who wished to preserve that land in its natural state and people who are
prepared to put in their own time and effort to preserve and restore bushland areas.
Membership costs just $10 per year and provides a newsletter containing a wealth of useful
information every two months.
Friends of Private Bushland (www.friendsofprivatebushland.org.au) is run by landholders
and is registered as a 'Friends Group' within the DENR Friends of Parks Inc.
FIELD TRIPS
Sunday 2nd
January: Nurrutti Reserve for Dipodium. Meet 10:00a.m. at Heathfield
Primary School, Longwood Rd, Heathfield. Half day excursion.
Contact Cath Houston or Robert Lawrence (see inside cover for contact details).
Unsuccessful with Honey Les Nesbitt
After coming home from the Australasian Native Orchid Conference at Newcastle in August
I was brimming with ideas to try. One that I mentioned in the September journal was to
place a drop of honey on the end of a half developed flower spike on Sarcochilus to initiate
a keikei or baby plant to form on the end of the spike. This was done to ensure that if seed
was wanted the flower spike stayed alive long enough for a pod to develop and mature.
Sarcochilus are notorious for pods going yellow and dropping off early in their
development. I put a drop of honey on the end of 2 half grown spikes of my plant of
Sarcochilus Melba. No baby plants developed. The spikes developed normally and
flowered beautifully in November. I did not try for seed. Did I use the wrong honey,
choose the wrong plant, or were the flower spikes too advanced? Did anyone try this
method and did it work for them? We would all love to hear about it.
101
FOR YOUR INFORMATION - NOSSA NEWS
ARTICLES / ITEMS FOR NEXT JOURNAL
Articles / items for the February journal need to reach the Editor by Friday Feb. 4th
.
Report on NOSSA Show 2010 and APS Show sales Bill Dear
This year’s show, thanks to the weather, was the best we have had for a few years.
Although the season was a bit late there were many more and larger displays than recently.
This was appreciated by the public with much interest and very good sales from the trading
table. We were able to make a profit of approx $1000 for the weekend
Three weeks later we attended the APS [Australian Plants Society] Spring Show and sale
where we put on a display and sold later flowering plants. This show was also well attended
on the Saturday but very quiet on Sunday. Sales at this show were also very good with
another $1000 for the Society.
I would like to thank everyone who helped out in any way to make these weekends a great
success.
Tuber Removal Works Well Les Nesbitt
At the NOSSA culture night on the 28th
September I demonstrated the tuber removal method
on Pterostylis cycnocephala, a species that normally does not multiply. A pot containing 2
plants was knocked out and the soil brushed off the plants. Then the new white tuber was
gently twisted away from each orchid leaving the old tuber and plant intact. Some of the
soil was returned to the pot to a depth of 25mm and pressed down. The new tubers were
placed in the pot and covered with more soil. Then the two plants were held together at the
original growing position and the rest of the soil filled in around them and firmed down.
After watering the pot was returned to the shadehouse.
On November 22nd
the rosettes were dry so I knocked out the pot to see the results. The
underground stems were still turgid and lo and behold on both plants there were 3 small
white new tubers spaced along the underground stem. The original new tubers removed in
September were still in excellent condition. I replaced the soil in the pot burying the stems
and tubers as they may still get bigger while there is life in the stems. Now I have 8 tubers
instead of only 2 if nothing had been done in spring. When I repot again in January the 2
flowering size tubers will go into one pot and the 6 small tubers in another pot to grow on
undisturbed for a year to build up tuber size.
Next season I expect 2 flowering plants and 6 small rosettes and then 8 flowering plants in
2012 plus maybe another 6 small rosettes if I pull off 2 tubers again next September.
Murphy’s law says that some plants will rot or get eaten. That is why this cultural practice
is so important to maintaining numbers of rare orchids in cultivation. It works on Diuris,
non-multiplying Pterostylis and probably other genera as well.
102
Epiphytic Species No. 5 - Dendrobium gracilicaule Les Nesbitt
Common name: Pencil orchid,
Distribution: From Central Eastern NSW to NE Queensland.
Dendrobium gracilicaule is a distinctive species that has tall narrow cylindrical pseudobulbs
about the size of long pencils. It grows in rainforests on trees or rocks often forming large
clumps. The smallish meaty flowers are cream to yellow on the inside while the back of the
flowers are covered with dark spots and blotches. It flowers in September at the time of the
NOSSA Spring Show.
A hardy orchid that is easy to grow in an Adelaide shadehouse. Although it can be mounted
on a slab, in Adelaide it is easier to manage in a pot. Give it plenty of shade and humidity in
summer and it will reward you with a mass of flowers in spring. Most rewarding if left to
grow into a specimen plant. While not as showy as Den. speciosum or Den. falcorostrum,
every collection of native epiphytes should have at least one plant of this species.
You may have to search a few catalogues to find a plant since it is seldom available on sales
tables in South Australia. It hybridizes readily and hybrids are usually very floriferous. Well
loved primary hybrids are; Den x gracillimum with speciosum, Den Susan with Den.
falcorostrum, and Den x suffusum with Den. kingianum.
We Have Pods Les Nesbitt
One of my favourite Australian dendrobiums is the beech orchid Dendrobium falcorostrum.
Not an easy orchid to grow on the Adelaide Plains, it survives much better in the Adelaide
Hills. To get more plants you first need seed. The normal method of transferring pollen
from a flower on one plant to a flower on another plant seldom works with this orchid. You
have to take pollen from 2 plants and place both sets of pollen on a flower of a third plant.
This I did with my best 3 clones when they were in flower in October. Each plant has a
developing seed pod so there should be enough seed for flasking green pods early in the new
year.
Phaius tankervilleae (Banks) Blume 1852 Len Field
The genetic name Phaius is derived from the Greek word phaios meaning dusky and was
chosen because of the dark colouring of the flower, while the name tankervilleae was named
after the Countess of Tankerville a patron of botany at that time about 1778.
This orchid has always been a favourite of mine since first seeing it growing in the wild in
northern N.S.W. back in the sixties when at that time I found it growing near the bank of a
river in damp soil among a stand of swamp oak (Casuarina glauca). Since that time I have
found it growing elsewhere under similar conditions and even in pure sand. Phaius
tankervilleae has had an amazing amount of name changes over the years with one name
Phaius wallichii named by J.D.Hooker in 1890 having a bearing on the Australian species
because some years ago this Phaius although the same species as Phaius tankervilleae was
103
imported into Australia in great numbers from India under the name Phaius wallichii and in
my opinion these tended to be larger in flower size and a deeper red on both petals and
labellum than the Australian species which tends more to a brown colouring, that is in all the
plants I have seen growing in nature.
Phaius is a genus of about 20 species extending from India and China southward through
Malaysia, Indonesia and adjacent Pacific islands, New Guinea and down to Australia where
4 species can be found Phaius tankervilleae, Phaius australis, Phaius bernaysii and Phaius
pictus. Phaius tankervilleae, which can also be, found in the Hawaiian Islands where it was
introduced and has now, became naturalised. In Australia Phaius tankervilleae extends
from North Queensland to N.S.W. as far south as the Richmond River but many reports
claim it was once found much further South. Once fairly common and usually found in wet
coastal situations it has now became almost extinct in its natural setting, and with the
reclamation of swamp land, sand mining and severe collecting one must feel fortunate to
have seen this orchid growing in its natural state. Phaius tankervilleae is the largest native
orchid flower found in Australia, the plant can grow up to 210 cm. when in flower with
pseudo bulbs 3 to 7cm.in diameter with 4-7 leaves 30 to 120 cm. long with the outer leaves
being smaller than the inner and even when not in flower it makes a nice foliage plant.
Flowers are trumpet shaped and can be up to 10cm. in diameter but have been recorded up
to 17cm. Coloured white on the outside red-brown or densely mottled brown on the inside,
labellum bright purple or red. Flowering period is September to October but can be much
later further south.
In 1900 a Mr Charlesworth crossed Phaius tankervilleae with Phaius australis to make
Phaius Charlesworthii this would be among the first man made hybrids registered for 2
Australian native orchids.
Culture. While many people grow this beautiful orchid in Southern areas without the help
of a glass house I feel that if your winter temperature constantly drops below 70
C., some
extra warmth may be needed. One sign of being too cold are the tips of the leaves becoming
black and ragged from dying back, this can also point to some growing deficiency. A fair
amount of shade is needed (up to 50%) and it must be well watered in the hot summer
months and just damped down in the colder months. Special precautions must be taken
against mealy bug and other insect pests because anything that flies, crawls or walks seem to
have a great liking for this plant. A rich potting mix is needed and they respond to a natural
fertiliser. I use mostly a mix a little coarser than cymbidium mix with a little charcoal and a
dose of old fowl manure does seem to help, another point I feel is important is that as these
plants grow an extensive root system, they quickly become root bound, so I think that it is a
good policy to repot more often than with most other orchids and always leave plenty of
room in the pot for root growth as I feel this is a main reason between a large healthy plant
or a small sickly one. After flowering which can last up to six weeks, the flower spike is cut
off at the base near the pseudo bulb and laid either on moss or wet sand on the floor of the bush house or placed in a bucket with about 25 to 50 mm of water in the bottom, after some
time if conditions are right small shoots will appear along the length of the spike below
where the last flower bloomed. The spike can be cut about 3 cm either side of each shoot
and potted.
104
N.O.S.S.A Tuber Bank for 2010/2011 Jane Higgs
Available to financial members only! Closing date for orders is the last mail on the 4th
of
January 2011. Tubers will be posted during the week beginning the 10th
January 2011.
I thank all growers who have generously promised tubers, which need to reach me during
the first week of January.
NOTE; 28 lots in all.
Circle each lot number that you wish to order & mark ‘Sub’ by any that you would like if
your first choice is not available. Lots will have from 2-10 tubers depending on supply &
demand. Tubers in short supply will be issued on a first come first served basis. Please
record the provenance of tubers you receive if known.
Price per lot is $1.00. An additional charge of $5.00 for postage & handling costs
applies.
POST ORDER TO; J Higgs
P.O. Box 134
MYPONGA. S.A. 5202
105
TUBER BANK ORDER FORM
Sub COMMENTS
1 Acianthus (Nemacianthus) caudatus
2 Acianthus pusillus
3 Chiloglottis trapeziformis
4 Corysanthes diemenicus
5 Corysanthes hispida dark form
6 Corysanthes incurvis Kersbrook SA
7 Diuris orientis yellow
8 Diplodium aestivum
9 Diplodium laxum
10 Diplodium truncatum
11 Linguella nana green Hills variety
12 Ptst. baptistii ‘Gosford”
13 Ptst. curta
14 Ptst. curta Lucindale. SA
15 Ptst. nutans
16 Ptst. pedunculata
17 Ptst. pedunculata Kuipto SA
18 Ptst. pedunculata Marble Hill SA
19 Pterostylus Bantam
20 Ptst. Dusky Duke
21 Ptst. Hoodwink
22 Ptst. Joseph Arthur
23 Ptst. x ingens
24 Taurantha concinna Fernbay NSW
25 Microtis arenaria
26 Microtis arenaria Adelaide Hills SA
27 Microtis fruterorum
28 Microtis unifolia
Circle each lot number that you wish to order & mark ‘Sub’ by any that you would
like if your first choice is not available.
106
Name: ..............................................................................................
Address: .................................................................................................................................
.................................................................................................................................................
State.................................................................................Postcode.........................................
#………lots (Price per lot $1.00) = $……….....
Plus $5.00 postage & packing
Total of order $…………..
Cheque/Money Order to be made payable to N.O.S.S.A. (in Australian Dollars)
Native Orchid Society of South Australia Inc
P.O. 565 Unley S.A. 5061
SUBSCRIPTIONS 2011
Those receiving a journal by POST $20 per year
Those receiving a journal by Email $15 per year
Membership for Students remains at $10 per year and Juniors $5 per year
For members joining at any time during the year, membership will now be based on a pro
rata system. Email members will pay $15 for the first and second quarters, $10 for the third
quarter and $5 for the last quarter. Likewise new members receiving a POSTED copy will
pay $5 per quarter.
Please note subscriptions are due and payable with effect from 1st January
I/We wish to renew membership of the Society. NAME: Dr / Mr / Mrs / Miss / Ms ______________________________________
________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________Post Code__________
Payment should be made to the Native Orchid Society of South Australia Inc. & forwarded to: The Treasurer, N.O.S.S.A. Inc, P.O. Box 565, Unley. S.A. 5061. If you have already paid or are a life member please disregard this advice. Receipts are only issued upon request.
OVERSEAS SUBSCRIBERS
You are requested to pay in Australian Dollars.
Due to the high cost of collection, monies paid in other currencies will not
cover a subscription for the full year.
107
Plants benched November 2010 1 photo's D. Hirst
Sarcochilus Dove
Sarcochilus Heidi
Dendrobium monophyllum 'cabarita'
Dendrobium canaliculatum
Sarcochilus hartmannii
Sarcochilus Yellow Cascades x George Colthrup
Sarcochilus hartmannii 'Red Heart'
Sarcochilus Velvet 'Chocolate'
Plants benched November 2010 2 Photos by D Hirst
Diuris sulphurea
Cymbidium madidum
Phiaius tankervilleae
Diuris drummondii
Diuris brevifolia x sulphurea
Caladenia tentaculata
1st 2nd