Native orchids are popping up all over the place - there's never a 'boring' walk here and it makes me realise how much I missed when I had a car. The summer-flowering sun orchid
(Thelymitra) just has green shoots at present and most of the greenhood
(Pterostylis) orchids haven't flowered yet but there are a heap of spider orchids
(Corybas) in flower. My camera doesn't have much depth of field so it's challenging to get a good photo with most of the flower in focus - but trying is always fun.
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| Greenhood orchid flower (Pterostylis) |
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| Earina mucronata flower buds starting to open |
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| A spider orchid flower (Corybas) |
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| Spider orchids high on a bank at the base of a tree |
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| I think this is Corybas rivularis in flower |
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| Close-up of spider orchid |
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| Newly opened spider orchid |
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| Another shot of the one above |
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| And another angle |
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| This spider orchid leaf is about the size of my thumbnail |
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| Corybas rivularis in flower |
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| This spider orchid has the longest lateral sepals I've seen |
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| Close-up of Corybas rivularis flower |
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| Earina mucronata flower buds - almost open |
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| Delicate greenhood orchid flower |
Of course, you realise I'm guessing at most of these! I usually check out Hugh Wilson's
'Field Guide to Stewart Island Plants' - but tonight picked up the
'Colour field guide to the native orchids of New Zealand' by Eric Scanlen and Ian St George and got totally lost. This fab reference book has Corybas as a synonym for
Nematoceras, a name I haven't come across before. And the 'rivularis' part has changed to 'rivulare' - or is this a different orchid??
I'm in awe of the people who specialise in identifying our native plants; the range is so diverse and the orchid 'language' especially has my brain stretched to full capacity...
"Sheathing bract at stem base, is a colourless, trumpet-shaped sheath, usually sloping up to a variable apiculus at the rear, whose point is mostly dark but sometimes green. Peduncle lengthens as a scape after pollination for good seed distribution."
Just as well there's a website that makes it easier - go to
New Zealand Native Orchids website for a look around. Their
Orchid Structures web page is great to learn the parts of an orchid flower. I'll have to study it well so I can start identifying some of the plants I find.
The total lunar eclipse last Wednesday night was almost a fizzer here. Heavy cloud and driving rain was the excuse for an early night but fortunately I woke at 11pm and watched the moon sliding into full eclipse with the occasional cloud sweeping past. My wee camera came up trumps again with being able to capture some of the action, not bad at all for a 4x optical zoom and being handheld!
