Our Guest Speaker on 5 August 2022 was our Club Secretary, Emily Noble, who spoke about the amazing local orchids we have so closeby.
A wonderful diversity of native orchids can be found in the Ballarat region, a secret bounty little-known to orchid enthusiasts outside the region. Having just collated the orchid records of the FNCB (most notably collected by Pat & Bill Murphy), my personal records, the Australasian Native Orchid Society (Victorian Group) records for Mt Beckworth, Ballarat Environment Network records for their reserves within 50km of Ballarat, BirdLife Australia’s records for Clarkesdale Bird Sanctuary and research grade records found in a quick search on iNaturalist, the Victorian Biodiversity Atlas (VBA) and the Atlas of Living Australia (ALA), I established that at least 132 indigenous orchids have been recorded within 50km of Ballarat over the last sixty years. More than 105 of them have been recorded in the last 8 years.
All of the orchids recorded in the Ballarat region are terrestrial geophytes, i.e., they grow in soil and have a period of dormancy during the year. The Ballarat area’s 132 orchids represent 30% of the 395 terrestrial orchids found in Victoria, an astonishing figure. Of the 28 genera of indigenous terrestrial orchids occurring in Victoria, 26 have been found within 50km of Ballarat. In this region, the Victorian Volcanic Plains and Central Victoria Uplands are our two dominant bioregions, with a relatively small area of the Goldfields bioregion in the north-east.
Interestingly, in Enfield State Park/ Forest, the 95 species of orchids represent more than 27% of the species recorded, yet Ballarat’s orchid riches don’t appear on any maps. My favourite reference book, Wild Orchids of Victoria by Jeanes and Backhouse doesn’t highlight Ballarat as an orchid hotspot. A search in the VBA, Australia’s Virtual Herbarium and ALA for countless orchid species known to occur in the region reveals a black hole of officially documented and accessible records, whereas countless records are available for the Castlemaine, Bendigo, Anglesea, Ararat and Geelong districts.
The fact that these species don’t appear in public records for our region means that they aren’t getting considered in land management decisions for private and public land overseen or undertaken by local or State government departments and agencies, a concern for such vulnerable, fragile plants, far too many of which are already on the endangered or threatened lists for Victoria. Our club is in a good position to help rectify the paucity of local records for these special plants, with comprehensive local knowledge and written & photographic records of their distribution.
The climate of Ballarat is classified as sub-alpine, and because this region is at a higher altitude than orchid-rich places within an hour and a half’s drive like Castlemaine and Anglesea/ Aireys Inlet, the flowering of our orchids is usually two to three weeks behind those areas.
Orchids can be found in the grasslands, grassy woodlands, heathy dry forests and other vegetation classes in our region in every month of the year. The calendar year of orchid hunting around Ballarat starts with the leafless, saprophytic species of Hyacinth Orchids Dipodium sp. and Potato Orchids Gastrodia procera. The Ballarat region has been identified as a stronghold for the endangered Spotted Hyacinth-orchid, D. pardalinum.
In February, the spectacular Austral Ladies Tresses Spiranthes australis appear in damp areas, with their spiral staircase of flowers for bees to climb and pollinate. Before the Autumn break, several tiny species of orchids start to flower: Parson’s Bands Eriochilus cucullatus, various Midge Orchids Corunastylis sp. and two types of Tiny Greenhoods, one with red-tipped flowers.
Fringed Hare-orchids Leporella fimbriata and two species of Mosquito Orchids Acianthus sp. start to flower in April and May. The Autumn break also sees the emergence of leaves of many winter and spring-flowering orchids, allowing them to build up resources in their tubers ready for use in the flowering season.
In June, the Mosquito Orchids are joined by Emerald-lip Greenhoods Pterostylis smaragdyna, another significant orchid with much of its population found in our region. Veined Helmet-orchids, Corybas diemenicus peak in June, with their flowering season overlapped by Slaty Helmet-orchids, C. incurvus at the end of July. As August begins, they are joined by Blue Fingers Cyanicula caerulea and numerous Greenhoods: Dwarf Greenhoods P. nana, Trim Greenhoods P. concinna, Striated Greenhoods P. striata, Nodding Greenhoods P. nutans, Hybrid Greenhoods P. Xtoveyana, Blunt Greenhoods P. curta and Tall Greenhoods P. melagramma. Most of these greenhoods are pollinated by fungus gnats or tiny flies, and research suggests that most of these orchids rely on the male of a single species of fungus gnat or fly attracted to the flower by the scent of kairomones mimicking those of the female insect. Many of these pollinators are yet to be classified any further than Mycetophila sp. 2 / 3, etc. These tiny insects represent an important food source for the many locally-occurring species of sundew which are often found growing in close proximity to these orchids.
In mid to late August, regionally significant Dainty Wasp-orchids Chiloglottis trapeziformis and Bronze Bird-orchids C. Xpescottiana start to flower, also attracting their pollinators (male wasps) using kairomones and flower structures with visual and tactile resemblances to female wasps.
Purple Waxlip-orchids Glossodia major, several species of Beard Orchids Calochilus sp., Bird Orchids Chiloglottis sp. and a diverse range of Caladenias flower from August to November, starting with the Finger Orchids, followed by Small Greencomb Spider-orchids then Hooded Orchids and Mantis Greencomb Spider-orchids.
The peak flowering time for Leopard Orchids Diuris pardina is early September when Narrow-leaf Bitter-pea Daviesia leptophylla and Golden Bush-pea Pultenaea gunnii provide camouflage and attract pollinators, with Donkey Orchids D. orientis flowering from late September to early October. Tiger Orchids, D. sulphurea are at their best at the end of October in this region, and various species of Golden Moth-type orchids like Diuris chryseopsis and D. behrii also flower between late August and November.
The colourful Sun Orchids, with their flowers in various shades of yellow, pink, blue and purple or occasionally bright white stand out more than most orchids when they flower. Consequently, to minimise the risk of attracting a hungry herbivore, they time their flower-opening to the peak activity times of their pollinators, opening in warm, humid conditions and promptly closing again as soon as the temperature cools.
In November and December, the orchids with stunningly unusual “upside down” flowers take over: Small and Large Duck-orchids, Caleana minor & C. major, various species of Leek Orchids Prasophyllum sp., Large Tongue-orchids Cryptostylis subulata and Elbow Orchids Thynninorchis huntianus.
Discovering orchids, whether flowering, seeding or simply in leaf (with the promise of their fascinating flowers yet to come) is one of the greatest year-round delights of exploring Ballarat’s natural reserves. Thanks to Bill, we have a Club orchid project on iNaturalist that automatically collates any records of plants from the orchid family, a wonderful resource for club members and, with verified records being automatically added to the Atlas of Living Australia, a great way to literally get our records on the map so these precious plants can be given due consideration when land management decisions are made.
The Field Naturalist Ballarat 