METALLIC SUN ORCHID COUNT  -  2 October 2005

Members of the club travelled to the Blond Bay State Game Reserve for the annual count of the endangered Metallic Sun Orchid (Thelymitra epipactoides).  This beautiful large orchid is rare mainly because its primarily coastal sandy habitat has been cleared for agriculture. Its range extends from Blond Bay westwards in isolated coastal patches through to the Eyre Peninsula in South Australia on heaths and shrubby woodlands, with one population near the Grampians.  The plant has a thick fleshy linear leaf to 25cm and a flower stalk to 50cm bearing up to 20 flowers, each up to 35mm across.  The flower colour is variable with pink, blue and bronze with a metallic lustre.  It favours habitat that has been recently burnt.

Some years ago an area of the Metallic Sun Orchid in the reserve was fenced to prevent browsing of the orchids by wallabies, kangaroos, rabbits and deer.  About a month before the count the area fenced was greatly increased to about five times the original site.  It had been found through counts that the numbers of plants surviving and flowering had increased within the fence, and finance became available to increase the area protected.  Because of the dry season, the plants appeared to be quite a bit smaller than usual.  The number counted within the older smaller area was 261.  Outside of this, but inside the new fence, the number was 51.  Outside both fences the extras were about 15.  The vegetation included many clumps of Spiny-headed Mat-rush (Lomandra longifolia) and most of the orchids were found away from these clumps.  In the Spiny-headed Mat-rush the unisexual flowers are borne on separate male and female inflorescences.  Small plants of the red-flowered pea Running Postman (Kennedia prostrata)were growing in and around the Lomandra tussocks.  Another pea was Creeping Bossiaea (Bossiaea prostrata) with yellow and brown flowers and circular leaves.  A small herb was Creamy Candles (Stackhousia monogyna) which has many small cream flowers closely arranged in a cylindrical raceme. Creamy Candles is pollinated by night-flying moths.  A dwarf shrub was the Common Rice-flower (Pimelia humilis).  The many flowers have four white sepals united to form a tube to which the two stamens are attached, and no petals.

Overhead a pair of White-breasted Sea Eagles were continuously harassed by Magpies.  We heard White-eared Honeyeater, Grey Butcherbird and Willie Wagtail.

On our way to Fiddians Swamp various cars spotted a Blue-tongue Lizard, a Fox and a Hare.  In the swamp amongst the spiky Common Sword-sedge (Lepidosperma longitudinale) was masses of the rare Dwarf Kerrawang (Rulingia prostrata) flowering.  This is a ground-hugging small shrub with crenately-lobed (rounded teeth) leaves.  The huge amount of growth was presumably caused by burning the year before.  As the plant is prostrate, maybe the burning removes the competition with taller plants.  [There seemed to be many plants with the specific name “prostrata” on this trip.]  There were patches of the lovely blue Swamp Isotome (Isotoma fluviatilis)  with many starry flowers  where the stamens are fused into a tube around the style; and Grey parrot-pea(Dillwynia cinerascens), a small shrub with small crowded pointed leaves and long clusters of yellow and brown flowers.

Off to another area to search again for the Metallic Sun Orchid.  Antlions had built their pit traps (about 50mm across) in the sand in the middle of the road.  It is the nymphs of the antlions that construct these traps to catch ants and other insects.  The nymph has a formidable pair of jaws.  The adult antlion is a lacewing with a long thin body, two pairs of elongate wings of similar size and short antennae.  Unfortunately we didn’t find any specimens of the metallic Sun Orchid.  However we were rewarded with the lily Blue Stars (Chamaescilla corymbosa);  the daisy Button Everlasting (Helichrysum scorpioides); and the orchids, a double-headed Wax-lip (Glossodia major); the fragrant Brown Beaks (Lyperanthus suaveolens) which has a stiff narrow leaf and the labellum has a bright yellow mid-lobe; and Pink Fingers (Caladenia carnea).  A Pallid Cuckoo called.  Thank you James.