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Got caught......

PostPosted: Mon Jan 14, 2008 9:56 pm
by Oneputt
.....without my macro so shot these with the 28-70 and then cropped. I quite like the colours.The first is a ground orchid of some sort and the second a grass.

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Re: Got caught......

PostPosted: Tue Jan 15, 2008 7:11 am
by wazonthehill2
Jumping in and giving you the correct name that colin_12 corrected mine to.

Dipodium variegatum is the one that has green racemes and spots on the raceme as well as the flowers.

Grows along coastal eastern Australia, flowers around Chrissy time, does not have leaves

Re: Got caught......

PostPosted: Tue Jan 15, 2008 9:56 am
by Oneputt
Thankyou for that. So was I right? Is it a ground orchid?

Re: Got caught......

PostPosted: Tue Jan 15, 2008 5:52 pm
by wazonthehill2
some info on this orchid
Dipodium variegatum
This terrestrial saprophyte grows in open eucalypt forest throughout Brisbane. Being a saprophyte, this orchid has no leaves but the flower stem is the only part which emerges above ground. This orchid is extremely common and can be found in the hundreds in a good flowering season. It often produces three or four flower stems, a new stem growing as the old stem finishes. It's peak flowering period is January, but it flowers sporadically throughout the year.

This species is terrestrial, favouring littoral rainforest, subtropical rainforest, dry rainforest, wet sclerophyll forests, dry sclerophyll forests, grassy sclerophyll forests, dry sclerophyll woodlands, dunes (including stabilised sands) and riparian (stream-side) areas.

Flowering occurs during spring and summer (August to January). Flowers are white with have covering of reddish-burgundy spots on the tepals and ovary, the labellum finely lined, pink to reddish, and are carried on a lateral (apparently terminal) raceme.
Foliage is absent (reduced to alternate scales), and the leaves are ovate scales.
Similar species include D. punctatum, D. pulchellum, D. hamiltonianum and D. roseum.

A beautiful orchid that is very common in some areas of the Lane Cove National Park. The leafless, brownish stem is about 50cm tall and bears a very pretty Hyacinth-like inflorescence, purple or pink with white spots.

Habitat: sandstone soils, in open forest, slightly moist positions, under trees. Often grows in dense stands.

Flowering: Summer

Distribution: Common and widely distributed along coast and tablelands and slopes of NSW, also Queensland to South Australia and Tasmania.