#48 Orchids in the Barringtons

When I'd spotted the raceme with tiny bumps, which were presumably buds, dangling from an untidy tangle of orchid leaves and twisted roots, I made a mental note to revisit in a few weeks time. So, early yesterday morning, I found myself wandering the walking trail in Barrington Tops National Park, filled with anticipation.

I had been preoccupied, and forgotten to pack a saucepan to boil water for my coffee; I'd forgotten my wallet, and my groundsheet; and I'd forgotten to charge batteries in my camera and phone - but thankfully I remembered my spectacles, because the flowers were so small I couldn't tell whether they were healthy blooms or shrivelled remains of blooms. But, up close, the orchid flowers are little beauties:

Tangle Orchid - Plectorrhiza tridentata

This blog will not have the detail that I was accustomed to providing on my Hunter Valley Backyard Nature blog, as I simply don't have the time for the research at the moment.

Tangle Orchid, Plectorrhiza tridentata, is "an epiphytic orchid forming untidy straggly clumps with long coarse aerial roots and short, flattened stems bearing alternate, well-spaced, narrow, flattened leaves, to 10 cm X 1.5 cm. Pendulous racemes, to 12 cm long, carry 5 to 15 fragrant flowers, each about 0.8 cm across. These flowers are green or brown with a prominent white lip. The large dangling clumps are often supported by very few roots attached to the host, the rest forming tangled groups in the air".

"Flowering period is September to January. Distribution is Qld, NSW and eastern Vic, in gullies, slopes and swamps in humid forests." Ref: A Field Guide to the Native Orchids of Southern Australia, by David and Barbara Jones.

'Tangle' Orchid is an appropriate name

Successful mission! And being short of time, I headed back, admiring the rainforest as I wandered. A flash of purple caught my attention by the track - a Hyacinth Orchid! This was an exciting find for me as I had never seen a Hyacinth Orchid here before.

On closer inspection, something was amiss; the one-metre tall flower spike was detached from the ground. Investigation found a large hole excavated around the base of the leafless plant. Now, I've seen turkey and lyre-bird scratching, and these two native scrub birds were not the diggers of this hole (30 cm deep by 40 cm wide). My educated guess is that the thief was disturbed in the act of pilfering, and fled without the goods.

My battery power held out while I snapped a couple of pictures of the beautiful deep-pink blotched flowers, and then I crawled amongst the foliage and creepy-crawlies and replanted the orchid that still had a short root attached to a horizontal bulb-like structure.

I flicked off a couple of skinny leeches arching up my sleeve, scraped some dirt from my fingernails, and decided I must give this plant a drink. So I walked back to the car for a bottle of water, and went back to finish my gardening; I don't hold much hope for its recovery, though.

Blotched Hyacinth Orchid - Dipodium punctatum

I'm not positive on this ID as there are a few pink Hyacinth Orchids that are similar. The flowering time is right (December to February), but "open forest, woodland and heathy forest" isn't a perfect match for habitat. Nevertheless, there is no denying its beauty.

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Disgusting human habits: some people wonder why us humans get locked out of these special places; well when there is an element of humans who ignores safety signs and behaviour signs (no camping, no fires, no collecting of firewood), and shits beside the walking track (leaving a disgusting mess and paper exposed) instead of using the toilet provided 50 metres away, and pilfers protected plants, why the bloody hell wouldn't we all be locked out.

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The shy paddemelons and the not-so-shy Eastern Yellow Robins were delightful company amongst the ancient rainforest, and temporarily lifted my waning spirit, but it was soon overpowered by the bitter disappointment of the behaviour of unseen fellow humans.

After snacking, I prepared to leave the solitude of this leafy green clearing at the foot of the mountain. There was an odd feeling up my shirt sleeve, and I pulled a bloated leech from the fatty tissue of my upper arm. I hate leeches! I ripped off my t-shirt and gave it a vigorous shake, just in case.