POLLINIA
Bos primigenius Taurus considering Ophyrs apifera
NEWSLETTER OF THE IRISH ORCHID SOCIETY Volume 13, Issue 1
An F贸mhar
October 2014
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IOS Committee - Membership Details
THE IRISH ORCHID SOCIETY Chairman: Vacant Treasurer : Mary Bradshaw Secretary: Vacant Editor: Laurence T. May Committee: Úna Breathnach Marina Andreeva Lisa Coffey Deirdre McGrane Laurence T. May
POLLINIA
(POL-LIN-EE-UH)
A pollinium, (plural, pollinia) is the specific, pollen-bearing structure of Orchidaceae which is extracted by pollinators from a flower and transported for pollination to another flower. It is a mass of pollen grains fused by means of their wavy texture or fine threads, It originate from a single anther. This mass sticks together and during pollination is transported as a single unit. Pollinia contain the male reproductive cells.
IOS MEMBERSHIP DETAILS ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTIONS (renewable in June of each year) Adult Single €20.00 Family €30.00 OAP/Student* €15.00 (*Confirmation of student status required)
Please make cheques or PO payable to: The Irish Orchid Society Applications and other society communications should be made to the Secretary: Secretary Irish Orchid Society c/o National Botanic Gardens Glasnevin, Dublin 9, Ireland EDITORIAL INFORMATION The Editorial Staff reserve the right to edit and/or amend articles submitted to the Newsletter. The views or comments published within this Newsletter are not necessarily views shared by either the Editorial Staff or the Irish Orchid Society. © 2014 Contributions of articles, pictures or comments should be sent by email to: editor@pollinia.org or by post to: Laurence T. May, Bellarush, Castlebaldwin, Co. Sligo, Ireland
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A pair of pollinia. The typical pollen-bearing structure of the Asclepiadaceae and Orchidaceae families. Copyrights for the photographers’ and artists’ images belong to their respective owners.
The Irish Orchid Society
Cumann Magairlíní na hÉireann
October 2014
3
Calendar of Events — October to December 2014
: Please note the change of meeting times. From February 2014 all meetings will be held at the later time of 8pm. OCT
DR DECLAN DOOGUE Monday October 6th, 8pm
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Lecture by on Irish Orchids, Past, Present - Future? Sponsored by the Irish Orchid Society and the Dublin Naturalists' Field Club. All are Welcome
2014
NOV
DEBORAH LAMBKIN Monday November 3rd, 8pm Sponsored by the Irish Orchid Society and the Irish Society of Botanical Artists. All are Welcome
3 2014
DEC
CHRISTMAS PARTY NIGHT Monday December 1st, 8pm An Informal evening of fun, food and drinks. Please come and meet some other growers and swap stories.
1 2014
JAN
1
NO MEETING Athbhliain faoi Mhaise Daoibh
2015
Members: Renewal subscriptions for 2014-2015 should have been paid to the Secretary by 30 June.
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Volume 13, Issue 1
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Orchid Aroma
ARRESTING AROMA OF ORCHIDS IN NEW ZEALAND Orchids come in such fragrant varieties that it’s easy to see why they’re so popular. Ask half a dozen people to name their favourite fragrant plant and you'll get half a dozen different answers. Most probably won't mention orchids, but many of these exotic plants are scented. Some exceptionally so, and some vary throughout the day depending on the temperature and amount of sunlight they receive. There are some that only exude their scent at night, like the pure white lady-of-thenight orchid, Brassovola nodosa. This small species has a divine citrus-gardenia like fragrance that begins in the early evening to coincide with its natural pollinator, a nocturnal moth. Brassovolas are related to Cattleyas, of which most are also scented, some intensely so. Cattleyas are showier, their blooms larger, and they're more commonly available in New Zealand. One of the most fragrant species is Cattleya walkeriana. If you're after a top scent, look for hybrids that have this species in their parentage. Cattleyas should be grown indoors in bright light. Just a small amount of direct sunlight early morning or late afternoon is OK, but more sunlight than that and you'll fry them. Many orchids in the Oncidiinae subtribe are scented, in particular the Oncidiums. I have Oncidium 'Sharry Baby', whose white-tipped, cherry red blooms have a chocolate scent. Each flower spike lasts six to eight weeks, and the plant blooms sporadically throughout the year. "These are coming into spike at the nursery now," says Cathy Hine from Tuckers Orchids in Auckland, "and will start flowering towards the end of June. The perfume comes from the species Oncidium ornithorhynchum. This is a small spray type pink oncidium and has a very strong sweet perfume." Following on from 'Sharry Baby' are the Oncidium 'Twinkle' type orchids and their various hybrids. Their flowers are multi-coloured, with varying combinations of yellows, reds, pinks and white. Their perfume can be described as smelling like candy, icing or chocolate. Also beautifully perfumed are Oncidium 'Tsiku Marguerite' and 'Gold Dust', which spike and flower a little later on. The former has cream to apricot blooms with a bright gold crest on the lip, the latter golden flowers with a bright orange crest. "Oncidium 'Ruth's Rainbow' (x Onc. sphacetante) is another popular hybrid that can flower throughout the year," Cathy says. "It has tall branched spikes either in gold [following the Onc. sphacetante parent] or pink [from the ornithorhynchum parent]."
The Irish Orchid Society
October 2014
5
Orchid Aroma
Oncidiums like an average night-time temperature of around 12 degrees Celsius, and humidity about 60 per cent in the immediate vicinity of the plant, as well as good air circulation or ventilation without there being cold draughts. Grow indoors or in a greenhouse for warmth. There are other scented orchids to consider. "There are some breeding lines in the cymbidiums that are scented - predominately if Cymbidium tracyanum or Cymbidium mastersii are involved," Cathy says. "As well, Osmoglossum pulchellum is a popular orchid that has a very sweet scent like lily of the valley and looks a little like it too, with its pure white upside down flowers. And many of the Miltonopsis hybrids also have a beautiful citrusy perfume, usually from the Miltonopsis roezlii parent. "There are even a few phalaenopsis with scent, mostly having Phalaenopsis violacea, P. schilleriana or P. amabilis in the parentage." But one of the most beautifully scented are those from the Zygopetalum family. Their sweet, slightly musky perfume permeates the house for many weeks. "The species Zygopetalum intermedium, Z. mackayi, Z. crinitum and Z. maxillaire are all scented," says Cathy, "and in the backgrounds of many of the modern hybrids usually imparting their scent as a major characteristic." Zygopetalum like a fairly bright light, but not full sun or their leaves will burn. They are at their happiest with a night-time temperatures around 12C to 15C. Water when the potting mix has dried out, maybe once a week in winter and two to three times in summer, and feed fortnightly. Avoid watering the leaves or spots may appear. Repot, using an orchid mix, every couple of years. "Many of the Australian dendrobiums are scented," says Cathy, "particularly those closely related to D. kingianum and D. speciosum. One small D. kingianum plant can scent a whole large room on a warm day. The scent can get a bit diluted and not as strong in the very complex hybrids." Most Australian dendrobiums grow best in cool to intermediate temperatures, between 5C and 25C, although D. lawesii and D. speciosum and its hybrids like it a little warmer. I grow my D. kingianum outdoors in a partially shaded spot. I don't actually feed or water it , but its small lipstick pink flowers still appear in spring year after year and continue blooming for two to three months. You can grow these orchids in pots, or mount them on tree trunks or fences. Either way, there's a good chance wherever you are, [Ireland, too] you can grow a scented orchid. - THE SOUTHLAND TIMES
Pollinia
Volume 13, Issue 1
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Beyond Bees Losing the bees and other pollinators would make life difficult, as we’d also lose most of the flowering plants we rely on both for food and our green environment.
T
he vital service that pollinators provide has been drawn into focus by concern about the honeybee‘s alarming decline in many parts of the world—a focus of National Pollination Week, which took place June 16th to 22nd.
BEYOND BEES: Four Surprising Facts About Pollination
A Masdevallia orchid’s aroma is irresistible to a fly.
But honeybees are just one of about 20,000 known species of bee, and we shouldn’t forget the wild army of other pollen carriers out there. The plants themselves certainly don’t, as the extravagant ruses they use to draw flies, wasps, moths, bats, and others to their flowers prove. Here are some surprising facts about the pollinators and pollinated that keep our world humming. Orchids Are Sneaky While most orchids employ the conventional lures of nectar, fragrant perfumes, and colorful blooms, this diverse group is notable for some strange and devious fertilization strategies. Duping insects into trying to have sex with them is one a phenomenon known as pseudo copulation.
The Irish Orchid Society
October 2014
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Beyond Bees
Flowers of the mirror orchid (Ophrys speculum) do this by mimicking both the appearance and female sex pheromones of a particular wasp species. The male wasp, having been drawn by the orchid’s alluring scent, makes frenzied attempts to mate with its flowers. For its efforts, the insect gets a pollen sac to the head - comically, it looks like it has picked up a bulbous pair of yellow antennae. Thus marked, the unrequited wasp flies off and, if all goes according to plan, will repeat its mistake. Another orchid, Dendrobium sinese, pulls an even more elaborate scent-mimicking trick by smelling like a frightened bee. The rare Chinese species replicates the whiff of a bee’s alarm pheromone, which attracts the bee-eating hornet that pollinates its flowers. Moths and Orchids Evolved Together While moth species greatly outnumber those of bees or butterflies, they mostly work the pollinator night shift, and their services are often overlooked. [Left] The sphinx moth, Xanthopan morganii praedicta. Photograph by the Natural History Museum “It’s a real gap in our knowledge,” said Jeff Ollerton, a professor of biodiversity at the University of Northampton in the U.K., who studies plant-pollinator interactions. But Charles Darwin, during his own flowerpollination studies, was clever enough to identify a moth without anyone ever having seen it. Orchid specimens Darwin received from the Indian Ocean island of Madagascar included a species (Angraecum sesquipedale) with a nectar spur longer than any known insect in Madagascar could possibly feed from. Darwin predicted that the orchid was pollinated by a moth with an 11-inch-long (28 centimeter) tongue. More than 40 years later, in 1903, that moth, Xanthopan morganii, was finally revealed.
Pollinia
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Beyond Bees
The relationship is a striking example of co-evolution: As the orchid elongated its spur to ensure that the head of the nectar-seeking moth rubbed the flower’s pollen, the moth elongated its tongue to reach the nectar. As each continued to adapt in response to the other, these adaptations got ever more extreme. Interestingly, there is a Madagascan orchid (Angraecum longicalcar) with an even longer nectar spur measuring 15.75 inches (40 centimeters), which means there must be another as-yet undiscovered moth out there with an even longer tongue. Plants Mimic Rotting Flesh After bees, flies - especially hoverflies (aka flower or syrphid flies) - are among the most important pollinators of agricultural crops. For instance, chocolate lovers have midges to thank for their vice: These flies are the sole pollinators of the cocoa tree, according to Ollerton.
Rafflesia, the largest flower in the world. Rafflesia arnoldii in Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park, Sumatra, Indonesia.
But in attracting flies, many plants ditch the flowery approach, as their often bizarre and pungent blooms testify. Take the nausea-inducing corpse flower, Rafflesia arnoldii, a species that boasts the world’s largest flower and smells like rotting carrion to attract flies. But Ollerton’s favorite fly attractors are the ceropegias.
The Irish Orchid Society
October 2014
Beyond Bees
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“Here you have a large genus of plants [some 180 species] that as far as we know is exclusively pollinated by very small flies, on average less than two millimeters in length,” Ollerton said. Typically climbing plants, ceropegias have flowers with petals that are fused at the tips to form tubular traps. To entice the insects, ceropegias have a scent laden with the promise of dung or some rotting animal, plant, or fungus that the flies lay their eggs on. “A few are vile smelling, but others have sweet or fruity smells, no apparent smell at all, or smell of dead insects,” Ollerton said. The flies are held captive for 24 hours by downward-pointing hairs that line the inner surface of the petal tube. The hairs then collapse, and the flowers go from vertical to horizontal, allowing the tiny pollinators to escape, Ollerton added. Pollinators needn’t be insects, of course. Birds, lizards, and mammals also play their part, including a bat that follows the evolutionary example of Darwin’s moth. Discovered in cloud forests in Ecuador in 2005, the tubelipped nectar bat (Anoura fistulata) has the longest tongue, relative to body length, of any known mammal. The tiny mammal stores the 3.5-inch-long (9 centimeter) tongue - more than one and a half times the length of the bat’s body - in its ribcage. The extraordinary organ marks the bat as the exclusive pollinator of a nectar-rich plant called Centropogon nigricans. Fortunately for us, plants and their pollinators are full of surprises. The crucial thing is that we allow them to keep buzzing along together. ● NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC
Pollinia
Volume 13, Issue 1
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Vanda thwaitesii
VANDA THWAITESII BLOOMS FROM EXTINCTION A chance encounter with a Landmaster carrying logs for a bakery furnace has led to the uncovering of an orchid which has been hidden from human view for more than 150 years. Researcher and environmentalist Ajantha Palihawadana with a passion for native orchids was on his way to the east when he overtook the Landmaster packed with logs at Kurunegala (North Western Province, Sri Lanka.) As he was wont to do, whenever he saw large trees cut down by the roadside and lying on their side with beautiful orchids “frying and drying” in the heat of the sun, he could not resist taking a look and attempting a rescue. What he did not realise that day, three years ago, was that he had stumbled on to an orchid plant which was confined only to drawings at the Peradeniya Botanical Gardens and a black-and-white sketch in Flora of Ceylon’. Not a single specimen was available either at the Peradeniya Botanical Gardens or at Kew Gardens in England where many of the plants from Vanda thwaitesii found after 150 years. Courtesy British colonies are preserved. Ajantha Palihawadana
It was Vanda thwaitesii. That revelation came only in April this year. Chatting up the driver of the parked Landmaster, Ajantha had asked him whether he could remove the orchids which would otherwise be consigned to the flames of the paan poranuwa along with the logs. When the driver readily agreed, not only did Ajantha remove the orchid plants tenderly but he also put his research trip to the east on hold, turned around and returned to Colombo, to hand over the plants to someone to look after while he was gone. “One plant looked different,” says Ajantha, whose love of native orchids blossomed after he along with his uncle, Siri Palihawadana, looked on in wonder as a ground orchid flowered in the garden of their ancestral home in Matara. The life-long lure of these “amazing plants” has remained for Ajantha since his boyhood, like the beetle which he watched flitting from one orchid to another, pollinating them. “The excitement in my heart grew,” he concedes, as he kept his eyes riveted on the beetle which would “settle on the lip of the orchid, with the pollen getting stuck on its head when it poked it inside the flower”. “The orchid lip is a funny thing,” laughs Ajantha, adding that, thereafter the beetle would go to another flower and do the same, dabbing the pollen on that. The Irish Orchid Society
October 2014
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Vanda thwaitesii
It was the beginning of a meandering journey as an adult through the Sinharaja rainforest in the footsteps of one of the best known entomologists P.B. Karunaratne, now no more, learning about these fascinating plants, with serious research on orchids being conducted by Ajantha for more than two decades. A while ago, Ajantha had been part of ‘Orchid Rescue’ which along with the Forest Department saved three vanloads including the Vesak orchid from being submerged by the Kukule Ganga hydro project. Ajantha, in fact, was the first to design a poster on native orchids in collaboration with the Marga Institute and went on to describe certain new species. He is also a member of the Orchid Specialist Group of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the Species Specialist of the Executive Committee of the Orchid Circle of Ceylon. But what intrigued him was Vanda thwaitesii, for it was believed to be extinct. It had been described in Flora of Ceylon as being seen in the Hunnasgiriya district, which Ajantha says would have been an administrative district under colonial rule. After studying maps, he deduced that it would have been found in the Matale area. In early May, this year when Ajantha got the call from the person who was looking after the orchids rescued from the Landmaster that the plants were flowering, he rushed there only to see “an amuthu malak” (strange flower) amongst the lot. Heart racing, when Ajantha pointed out to the ‘guardian’ of the flowers what he thought, the reaction at first had been of disbelief, then the exclamation, “Ammata siri, wede hari”. (“Oh gosh, it has worked.”)
Drawing of the plant in the ‘Flora of Ceylon’
Excitement mounting, he then contacted the Director-General of the Department of National Botanical Gardens, Dr. Siril Wijesundara, sending him photographs of the flowers. When the latter suggested he take the measurements, he did so, and the blooming beauties exactly matched the original description.
With action being taken to propagate the plants and also carry out DNA testing, the survival of Vanda thwaitesii seems assured. “We have pulled back this beautiful orchid from the brink of extinction,” Ajantha says simply.
Pollinia
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Vanda thwaitesii
Who was Thwaites? This orchid with yellowish flowers dotted with red is named after British naturalist George Henry Kendrick Thwaites (1812-1882) who had been in then Ceylon for 31 long years. Described as having “immense calibre and energy”, he had taken up duties as the Superintendent of the Peradeniya Botanical Gardens from 1849-1880. Credited with laying a strong foundation for botanical studies and heavily contributing to the science, Thwaites had compiled a comprehensive list of flora called the Enumeratio Plantarum Zeylaniae, published in five parts from 18591864. It was an enumeration of Ceylon plants, with descriptions of the new and little known genera and species, observations on their habitats, uses and native names done by Thwaites, assisted in the identification of the species and synonymy by J.D. Hooker. Orchids found up to that period, all of 145 species, have his critical comments and observations, research reveals, while he had also initiated the ‘Ceylon Plants’ series which includes information on hundreds of species. He has been honoured by naming the plant genera, Thwaitesia and Kendrickia — after him. The orchids named after him are Eria thwaitesii, Bulbophyllum thwaitesii, Liparis thwaitesii, Malaxis thwaitesii, Oberonia thwaitesii and also the re-discovered Vanda thwaitesii. Thwaites established the cinchona nurseries at Hakgala, while his notes form the most valuable portion of Frederic Moore’s Lepidoptera of Ceylon (3 vols. 1880–9) and he contributed numerous descriptions of plants in Ceylon to Hooker’s Journal of Botany including 25 new genera. After retiring, unmarried Thwaites lived in the ‘Fairieland’ bungalow above Kandy until his death in September 1882. Its first description and others that followed “It is a good finding,” said the Director-General of the Department of National Botanical Gardens, Dr. Siril Wijesundara, as there is no specimen even at the Peradeniya Botanical Gardens.
The Irish Orchid Society
October 2014
Vanda thwaitesii
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Dr. Wijesundara added that it would also be important to find the original locality in which these plants are, to take action to conserve the remaining population. First discovered and named in 1864 as Aerides tessellatum by George Thwaites, it was in 1898 that it was described after looking at drawings by William de Alwis available at the Peradeniya Botanical Gardens and re-named as Vanda thwaitesii in the Flora of Ceylon by J.D. Hooker. It is described in the Flora of Ceylon as an epiphyte with a non-pseudo bulbous stem 15-30 cm long; lower internodes covered with brown coriaceous sheaths. Leaves 7.510 cm long, thick, coriaceous, falcately recurving, bifid at apex and sheaths closely imbricating at the base. Flowers 3.7 cm broad, yellow-green, streaked and spotted with red and white or pale yellow, in 2 or 3 flowered stout racemes; peduncle green, 10 cm long. Flora bracts very small. Distr. Endemic, very rare, on trees in the Hunnasgiriya district. â—?
KUMUDINI HETTIARACHCHI THE SUNDAY TIMES, SRI LANKA
Pollinia
Volume 13, Issue 1
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Burren Transplants
‘BURREN TRANSPLANT’ PLAN AIMS TO SAVE ORCHIDS Nearly 150 Irish gardeners and conservationists are being offered a unique "Burren transplant" of orchid-rich Burren land, thanks to a groundbreaking new conservation scheme. Two local conservation groups, the Burrenbeo Trust and Conservation Volunteers Galway, have come up with an ambitious plan to transplant large sections of this land into public and private gardens all over the country, before the extension of the M18 motorway. The Burren is one of the world’s leading habitats for orchids. Twenty-four of the 28 species of Irish orchids all grow within the Burren, making it Ireland’s richest habitat for the rare flowers by far. The two conservation groups are inviting applications from members of the public who wish to receive a free transplant of this unique Burren landscape. The groups are also in negotiation with a number of local authorities with a view to transplanting larger sections of the habitat into public land for conservation. “The Burren is such an amazing habitat for orchids,” said Brigid Barry of the Burrenbeo Trust. “It contains 24 of the 28 Irish orchids and we know that the land marked for transplant contains at least 15 species, but I would suspect that there are more. “There are basically no orchids at all in Irish grasslands. There may be swamps in parts of the country where you might find two or three species or orchids, but nothing like we have in the Burren.” In order to obtain a free 4ft sq Burren transplant, landowners much have a suitable, free-draining limestone area which the orchid rich sod can be brought to and transplanted. “They will not survive the construction of the motorway, that’s for sure, so this is about conserving as much as we can. But we’re not giving it away for people to put in a pot in their garden, that’s not what this is about. They will need to have suitable, free-draining, limestone ground.” Anyone interested in obtaining a free Burren orchid transplant can contact the project by email to volunteer@burrenbeo.com for more details. THE IRISH EXAMINER The Irish Orchid Society
October 2014
IOS Trip To Bull Island
15
IOS FIELD TRIP TO BULL ISLAND The field trip to Bull Island took place on July 3 rd this year. Thirteen eager orchid hunters turned up at 6.30pm. Some rain in the afternoon may have put some people off but as luck would have it the evening was dry and very pleasant.
Brendan Sayers gave an introductory talk on the local terrain and also some background information on the orchids we were about to see. Marie Hourigan had explored the area sometime prior to the trip and this ensured that we saw many orchids. Mr Vincent Sex, went ahead of the group and directed us in the direction of the orchids. This was a great help. Sincere thanks to all three. Nine orchids were spotted, eight species and one hybrid. For those who have a copy of Irelands Wild Orchids, A Field Guide, I will put the page number after each named orchid. My favourite Irish orchid is the Marsh Helleborine (p.3). These were in abundance on the evening. Their crowning feature is the frilly white lip. The Common Twayblade (p.19) is a tall narrow stem of greenish flowers that blend in with the surrounding habitat. Recognizable by its two leaves as the Irish version, DĂŠdhuilleog. depicts very aptly.
Pollinia
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IOS Trip To Bull Island
There were many beautiful Pyramidal orchids, Anacamptis pyramidalis, (p.99) and we were fortunate enough to observe a six-spotted burnet moth sitting on the magenta coloured flower. The Common Spotted Orchid (p.81) was in plentiful supply and easily spotted because of it’s pink spots and stripes. The pale pink colour of the Early Marsh Orchid (p. 65) was eye-catching amid the tall grasses. There were quite a few to be seen on the North Bull Island. Dactylorhiza purpurella (Magairlín corcra) (p.75) give a clear indication of the magnificent purple colour of this flower. The common name is Northern marsh-orchid and I’m presuming that this is because D. purpurella is more common in the North of Ireland. However it was lovely to see it on our trip.
The Irish Orchid Society
October 2014
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IOS Trip To Bull Island
Bee Orchid
Pollinia
Early Marsh orchid
Pyramidal Orchid
Volume 13, Issue 1
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IOS Trip To Bull Island
This was my first time to see the Common Fragrant Orchid (p.45) and what a delight, But the highlight of the evening it could be said was spotting the Bee orchid (p.105). This was my second time to see one. My first sighting of a Bee orchid was on the south side of the Bull Island some years ago. There was great excitement in the group when the Bee orchid was observed. Now for the hybrid Dactylorhiza fuchsii x incarnata (D. kerneriorum) This was also spotted and the experts know a lot more about this than I do. The trip was enjoyed by all, including Lisa’s dogs. We returned to the cars at 8.30pm tired but happy. ÚNA BREATHNACH PHOTOS BY MARIE HOURIGAN
The Searchers
IRISH ORCHID SOCIETY www.irishorchidsociety.org • POLLINIA www.pollinia.org Back issues of POLLINIA are available in PDF format on that website.
The Irish Orchid Society
October 2014
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Stuart Dunlop | Donegal Wildlife
DONEGAL WILDLIFE: A regularly updated pictorial narrative of the wildlife around Raphoe, Donegal
http://www.donegal-wildlife.blogspot.com POLLINATORS
T
his week I was giving a talk as part of an international conference about pollinators. If you mention pollinators most people immediately think of bees, and bees are certainly extremely important plant pollinators. Other groups of insects, however, are also important in the pollination process, and I was covering hoverflies. I spoke to the other speakers on non-bee pollination (one discussing beetles, another covering butterflies and moths and a third talking about ants), and it was clear that there is actually very little scientific literature out there that discusses and compares the contributions made by these other groups. I made the case that since there are more species of hoverfly than bee in Ireland, and there are clearly more hoverfly specimens than bee specimens, that hoverflies are obviously an important player in plant reproduction. Yes, bees are 'busier', visiting more plants per minute than a hoverfly, but bees also take pollen back to their nests to feed their young. This takes pollen OUT of the plant reproduction process, rather than assisting. Further, there are bees that short-circuit the nectar-taking process by cutting into the rear of flowers, thereby bypassing the pollen-gathering part of the arrangement. This is theft. I then went on to discuss the lifecycle of hoverflies, and pointed out that some species of hoverfly lay their eggs in bee nests. Their larvae eat the detritus in the nests, keeping them healthier and more productive. So hoverflies are assisting some bees. Lastly, I discussed the fact that some hoverfly larvae feed exclusively on aphids: yet another beneficial aspect to this group. The beetle and ant speakers struggled to find any evidence of plant pollination other than incidental or accidental transfers as they moved from plant to plant. The one saving grace as far as ants are concerned is that they 'farm' aphids, thereby providing a food source for the hoverfly larvae! After the talk we went on a tour around the excellent conference site (Oxford Island at Lough Neagh) and I took the camera with me. The following shots show how things are progressing with the new 70D camera.
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Stuart Dunlop | Donegal Wildlife
This is the original shot (reduced in size!) of the hoverfly Eristalis pertinax:
This is the same image cropped to show the whole insect:
The Irish Orchid Society
October 2014
Stuart Dunlop | Donegal Wildlife
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And this is a crop to just the wing veins:
These three images were all taken from the same original. This camera continues to astound me with its performance. The image is also instructive in another way: In the field I initially identified this as Eristalis pertinax. But when I blew it up on the computer I noticed the dark wing shade and the yellow margins to the abdominal tergites. The only species on my patch that looks like that is Eristalis horticola, so I changed my identification without any further thought. I showed the images around and was informed that this was indeed Eristalis pertinax, and that occasionally it can have a dark wing shade! Lesson learned: although I can safely identify my local set of species, I need to take into account variations that might occur outside my immediate geographical area. [Left] Someone found this mine on Wood Avens and brought it for me to look at. I immediately recognised this as a Stigmella mine (central frass in a corridor mine), but didn't know which species of Stigmella mines Geum. So I took the
Pollinia
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Stuart Dunlop | Donegal Wildlife
images and went back to the office to check the internet. Turns out it's the very common Stigmella aurella, which I have often shown on Bramble. Bramble and Geum are both members of the Rosaceae, so they're quite closely related. It's nice to get confirmation from details like this that the plant taxonomists were right! Finally, I found a few pristine specimens of the Parasol Mushroom, Lepiota procera:
Lepiota procera - Parasol Mushroom
Dear IOS Members INFORMATION
IMPORTANT
One of the benefits of membership is the quarterly edition of Pollinia. However, with the rising cost of postage this is a significant dent in our yearly finances. The IOS is therefore giving members the choice to help us make some savings on print and postage, and to be more environmentally friendly. So we are asking you to contact us at the email address below, should you choose to continue receiving Pollinia by post. If you do NOT contact us we will email you a digital copy of Pollinia instead. For those individuals whom we do not currently have an email address, you will Lesser Butterfly-orchid continue to receive a paper copy of the newsletter. Please contact Deirdre on this matter at deirdremcgrane@gmail.com The Irish Orchid Society
October 2014
23
Zoë Devlin - Pyramidal Orchid Common Name:
Pyramidal Orchid
Scientific Name:
Anacamptis pyramidalis
Irish Name:
Magairlín na stuaice
From June to August, this little Orchid transforms a pleasant walk along grassy coastal paths and through open woodland into a real joy. Quite a variable perennial, it sometimes bears several stems, other times just one, usually reaching up to about 30 cm high. The magenta or pink flowers appear in June and until September they are borne in dense conical heads, pyramidal shaped at first but lengthening into cylindrical spikes of 50 to 100 flowers. Each individual flower (6–8 mm long) has a three-lobed lip, a long downward pointed, slightly curved spur and erect hooded upper petals. The colour of the flowers fades as they age. The stem has little sheathlike leaves and the basal leaves are lanceolate. The flowers are often foxy-smelling but it is a great favourite with moths, including the Six-spot Burnet, and butterflies whose tongues can find the nectar down in the spur. This is a native plant belonging to the Orchidaceae (or Orchid) family. My first record of this wildflower is in 1978 near the sea at Kilcoole, County Wicklow and the photographs are from Ballyteigue (2007) and The Raven (2014), both in Co Wexford, and Mullaghmore, Co Sligo in 2013 when Trudy Lomax very kindly took me to see a most wonderful display of various wild orchids. They included Frog Orchid, Lesser Buttefly-orchid and Bee Orchid. Orchids have a very special manner of reproduction. Not only must their seeds find themselves on their correct soil-type, they must also receive the unwitting help of some types of fungi which live in that soil. These fungi belong to the genus Rhizoctonia and can overwhelm the Orchid seeds if they are not immediately successful in absorbing the nutrients within the fungus and continuing on to produce underground tubers. Orchids can take a long time to produce leaves, let alone flowers. The slowest is the Lady’s Slipper Orchid, now sadly extremely rare, which takes from fourteen to eighteen years from seed to flower. Zoë Devlin’s website is : http://www.wildflowersofireland.net/ Her book 'Wildflowers of Ireland - A personal Record' is published by the Collins Press, Cork.
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The Cutthroat World of Victorian Orchid Hunters
THE CUTTHROAT WORLD OF VICTORIAN ORCHID HUNTERS Wilhelm Micholitz was half-starved, his clothing continually damp from the incessant Sumatran rains and he ached from the exertion it took to gather the precious specimens that clung on solitary cliffs and high up on the ancient trees of the deep forest. Add to that the fact that his boss was sometimes slow to send funds and it was no wonder his letters to Frederick Sander, “The Orchid King” back in England were often full of grumbling complaints. “How long I shall stay up there I cannot tell, I came down here today and I can tell you, only dire necessity has driven me to it, I had nothing to eat, to come down and then to climb again 3,000 feet … is not like taking a walk on London Road on a Sunday afternoon,” Micholitz groused to Sanders in a letter sent from Padang in January 1891. When In 1818 the naturalist William John Swainson sent back the first orchid specimen seen in London, orchid madness was born. Soon rich collectors were sending hunters far and wide into the wild to try and collect new and rare examples, reaching its heights in the Victorian era (mid-1830s to early 1900s). These hunters were a wild bunch who took their work to extremes with many dying in the pursuit. Besides the treacherous terrain, tropical diseases, angry indigenous populations and vicious animals, they had to worry about their fellow orchid hunters. Another of Sander’s hunters, William Arnold, once pulled a gun on a rival and the two nearly came to a shootout shipboard heading to Venezuela. Arnold was later instructed by his employer to follow the man – who worked for Sander’s nemesis, Dr. John Lowe – collect the same type of flowers he did and urinate on the other man’s specimens to destroy them. Even the less irascible hunters followed their rivals and tried in subtle ways to derail their efforts. In July 1876, Friederich Carl Lehmann followed Edward Klaboch around Ecuador in order to collect plants from the same locations and then attempted to poach Klaboch’s local assistant. “Sander, one of the largest employer of these bad boys of horticulture, was an avid orchid aficionado who at the height of his career employed 23 orchid hunters scattered across the world.” “Lehmann is being a nuisance, he follows me everywhere,” complained Klaboch, yet another of Sander’s men, in a letter to his boss. “[Lehmann] went to see [a local man who collects orchids for me] and told him that he would pay one dollar more than we per 100 plants, and he wanted him to collect for him.” Lehmann got his comeuppance. Klaboch’s man refused to help him and ratted out Lehmann to Klaboch. Klaboch promptly confronted Lehmann, who denied the
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October 2014
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exchange, saying the local man was a liar with the result that no one in the village would give Lehmann the time of day. Klaboch also gloated that he had collected more orchids than Lehmann. Schadenfreude seems to have been a common feeling among these mostly solitary men. The life of an orchid hunter was far from romantic. Besides the various geographic and meteorological pitfalls, there was the basic problem of getting the plants from where they were found to the base camp. From there they would have to be dried and packed and then carted overland to the coast by hand, horse, elephant or Llama (depending, obviously, on where the orchids were discovered). A long sea journey to England came next. Finally, with a little luck, the plants would have survived the hardships and produce flowers to awe the rich willing to shell out cash, mainly at auctions held to buy and sell the exotic wonders. “Ten thousand plants may be collected on some remote Andean peak or Papuan jungle with infinite care, and consigned to Europe, the freight alone amounting to thousands of dollars, yet on arrival there may not be a single orchid left alive,” wrote the reporter William George Fitz-Gerald. Sander, one of the largest employer of these bad boys of horticulture, was an avid orchid aficionado who at the height of his career employed 23 orchid hunters scattered across the world and had a sprawling orchid farm in St. Albans, near London. There, in 60 greenhouses specially adapted for the specific conditions needed to grow each orchid variety. The company handled between one and two million plants there in the 1880s and 90s. Sander also had space for testing and cultivating hybrids. As the business continued to grow, Sander built a orchid nursery in New Jersey and another in Belgium, which had 50 glasshouses for orchids. Orchids were big business, with truly exotic plants fetching thousands of dollars each and trading from collector to collector pushing prices ever higher. Sander told of one such exchange. He and a Liverpool lawyer were walking through one of the greenhouses when a particular orchid plant that hadn’t yet flowered caught the attorney’s eye. He purchased the plant from Sander for $12. Five years later he sold it back to Sander for $1,000, or the equivalent of $24,390 in todays dollars. Sander was born in Hanover, Germany in 1847 and at age 20 began working for a London seed company. He soon fell in with the intrepid Czech plant collector and adventurer Benedikt Roezl and went into business. Roezl was a one-handed dynamo who traveled, mainly on foot, across the Americas collecting orchids and other plants. On one trip alone, traveling from Panama to Venezuela, he sent back eight tons of orchids to London. Roezl turned to orchid hunting after a farm machine he invented to extract plant fiber took his hand during a demonstration in Mexico where he was living. He began
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The Cutthroat World of Victorian Orchid Hunters
hunting orchids after the accident, as he found farming difficult due to his impairment. Fitted with an iron hook, his prosthesis was apparently popular with local Indians, who would bring him plants. His obsession ran in the family. Klaboch, the hunter who was followed hither and thither by a rival in Ecuador, was Roezl’s nephew. These orchid hunters desire for discovering and collecting, and the insatiable demand for the flowers in Europe and America, was devastating to the native orchid populations as well as the trees on which the epiphytic flowers grew. These orchid hunters desire for discovering and collecting, and the insatiable demand for the flowers in Europe and America, was devastating to the native orchid populations as well as the trees on which the epiphytic flowers grew. There are still areas in Central and South America in which the plants never recovered. Today, many countries have laws in place to stop the wholesale stripping of orchids and other plants from their native habitats. The hunters themselves became a dying breed, literally. Sander, during an interview in 1906, tossed off more than half-a-dozen names of his hunters who had been killed tracking down his flowering treasures. Arnold was killed while on a collecting expedition along the Orinoco River and Klaboch died in Mexico. Micholitz, while surviving the life of an orchid hunter, died in near poverty in Germany. “All these [men] have met more or less tragic deaths through wild beasts, savages, fever, drowning, fall or other accidents,” Sander told Fitz-Gerald. Leon Humboldt, a French orchid hunter, remarked that after a dinner with six other hunters in Madagascar, four were dead within four years. Two years later, Humboldt was the only survivor. Orchid mania eventually went the way of these hunters, mainly thanks to the discovery of how to grow the plants from seed, a problem that was on its way to being perfected by the 1920s. These exotic blooms have now become a standard flower shop product and the intrepid hunters who once risked their lives to find them and the inflated prices the wealthy Victorians were willing to pay for the blooms have been resigned to history. ● . ANDREW AMELINCKX MODERN FARMER
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IOS Member Focus
MEMBER FOCUS QUESTIONAIRE
Mary, from Dublin, continues the series, now a regular feature. Mary, Your Interest in orchids began why and when? ~ As a student in the NBG (in 1997) working in the orchid house tutored by Brendan Sayers What was your first plant? ~ Pleony. I killed it How many plants are in your collection? ~ +/- 50 Where did you purchase them? ~ Fairs, M&S, Homebase, Bloom, Ikea, Wisley, Lidl Where do you grow them? ~ House What is your favourite orchid species/hybrid/genus? ~ Stanhopea (can't grow it) Vanda (can grow it) How often do you repot plants? ~ Depends, when they appear to need it Which type of potting mix do you use? ~ Medium bark and Spagnum Moss Which group are you most successful with? ~ Phalaenopsis and Epidendrum Which group do you continually fail with? ~ Miltonia, Miltoniopsis, Pleony Which are the oldest specimens and how old are they? ~ Phalaenopsis, 5-6 years old Which fertilisers do you use and do you use tap water or rainwater? ~ Any tomato fertilizer with tepid, soft tap water Which orchid would be your dream plant/group to grow? ~ Stanhopea
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Bipinnula gabriel
CHILEAN RESEARCHERS DISCOVER NEW ORCHID SPECIES SANTIAGO A group of researchers from the Faculty of Forestry at the University of Concepcion in Chile discovered a new species of orchid in the Maule region, which was named Bipinnula gabriel.
Bipinnula gabriel The important finding, led by the research assistant Pablo Bravo, is the result of a study of more than four years of a plant found in the Putu, in the province of Talca, 258 kilometers south of the capital. “The new species is a very distinctive lime green, has more flowers than most orchids and measures about 60 inches,” said its discoverer. In Chile there are 53 different plant species, of which 27 are endemic, but Bravo highlights the importance of finding new varieties, as this shows that further studies must be done in the area. With the publication of the discovery in the journal of the Botanical Society of Chile, Gayana Botany, other researchers evaluated the possibility that the new orchid is in different areas. “The orchids bloom every three or five years, so it is difficult to differentiate without flowers species. But with this new material will be easier to detect if there is in other areas,” said Bravo. The researchers caution that the plant can suffer threats discovered, because “it is
The Irish Orchid Society
October 2014
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Bipinnula gabriel very close to a road,” which could endanger the species should it be widened.
Moreover, the fact of being surrounded by forest plantations could cause be affected in case of fire. A mining project is developing in the region where they found Bipinnula gabriel, which could threaten its survival. According to a report by the Agriculture and Livestock Service (SAG) in 2013, the area is "fragile and is a priority for biodiversity conservation site." On August 6, 2013 the Court of Appeal upheld an application for protection filed by the Municipality of Constitution, which locates the town of Putú, which has resulted in the stoppage of the works Australian miner South American Iron & Steel (SAIS ). ABSTRACT A new species Bipinnula gabriel (Orchidaceae) is described and illustrated. The new species inhabits the coastal sclerophyllous forest of Central Chile, in the locality of Putu, Constitución, Maule Region. We discussed its identity against two related taxa (Bipinnula plumosa var. plumosa and Bipinnula plumosa var. philipporum) and the differences in terms of their ecological niches. The results showed that the new species has remarkable morphological differences with closest species, in addition to ecological differences supporting this species as new. We described the new species and habitat along with an approach for their conservation status and the key for proper determination. The back cover shows a photo of Bipinnula gabriel, and habitat.
LA SEGUNDA
HARVEST HOME FOR THE NORTH WEST Sunday 19th October 2014 We are reviving the long standing tradition of a Harvest Home day in the Riding Arena at Lissadell. In past years this day was a harvest celebration for workers and tenants on the Lissadell Estate. This year it will be open to the public, and will have exhibits and stalls based on the taste of the North West. Visitors should note that the House, Exhibition Galleries, Gardens and Tea Rooms will also be open. All the family are welcome to the Harvest Home at Lissadell for what will be a wonderful day. For further information contact: John Martin, Martin Event Management, at: 087-268-1635 or send email johnmartinevent@gmail.com
Lissadell, Ballinfull, County Sligo
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Events THE EUROPEAN ORCHID SHOW AND CONFERENCE – LONDON 2015 - April 8 - 15 The RHS London Orchid Show is delighted to welcome the prestigious European Orchid Conference to the heart of London; the event is the 17th, held in a different European city every three years. In 2015, not only can you admire and buy stunning orchids at the annual show, you also have the opportunity to learn more about this fabulous family.
THE INTOXICATION SEASON - KEW GARDEN SEPTEMBER 20 TO OCTOBER 12 From everyday to Class A, mind-altering plants and fungi arrive at Kew this autumn. Explore the secret history behind intoxicating plants and fungi. From the controversial opium poppy to our much-loved everyday cup of coffee, Kew's expert plant scientists will demonstrate how mind-altering plants can be both medicines and intoxicants. With activities, workshops, tours and fascinating talks, the season will highlight just how powerful plant chemicals can be. Each weekend will focus on a well-known mind-altering plant, featuring in turn: alcohol, cannabis, coffee and magic mushrooms with guest speakers including Professor David Nutt and Kew’s Professor Simmonds. Throughout the season foodsmiths, Bompas and Parr will be hosting a unique workshop: the 'Plant Connoisseurs’ Club' in Kew's Secluded Garden Glasshouse. The club will explore unfamiliar, yet culturally significant plants. Willing participants will be able try an unusual plant. Among the topics: Fungi at Kew Gardens Magical Mushrooms hands-on sessions Delve into the fascinating world of fungi with our activity sessions Discover the secret world of mycelium, examine fungi specimens and take part in a hands-on activity using straw bales inoculated with shiitake mushroom spores.
http://www.kew.org/visit-kew-gardens/ whats-on/intoxication-season
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October 2014
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Advertisements OF WOOD AND WILLOW
Lukasz Jurgowiak Lukasz Jurgowiak is a basket-maker based in south Co. Leitrim, Ireland. He comes from the Northwest of Poland.
Lukasz only made his first basket after moving to Ireland in 2004, using willow growing wild along the hedgerows. Developing a growing love for the material he took numerous classes with Alison Fitzgerald. He is continually striving to learn as much as possible from the rich tradition of basket-weaving in the Irish countryside. A keen horticulturist and lover of nature, he is also at present developing his skills in working with native wood. A selection of baskets are also available from the Leitrim Design House, The Dock, Carrick-on-Shannon, Co. Leitrim Baskets may be made to order for many uses. Please see the gallery on the website: http://www.ofwoodandwillow.com Tel: 087 387 8372 Advertisement
For a wide range of unusual species and popular hybrids please ask for our colour brochure. For an even wider and more up to date list of plants, books, sundries, gifts, etc., visit our web site www.orchids.uk.com We will be pleased to ship to Ireland. Contact us for a quote or get together with your orchid friends to share the cost of delivery. See us at the Dublin Orchid Fair.
Forches Cross, Newton Abbot, Devon, England, TQ12 6PZ. Tel: +44 1626 352233 mail@orchids.uk.com Pollinia
Volume 13, Issue 1
Bipinnula gabriel
IN THIS ISSUE Page Page Page Page Page Page Page Page Page Page Page
3: Calendar/Events 4: Orchid Aroma 6: Pollinators 10: Vanda thwaites 16: Bull Island Trip 19: Stuart Dunlop 23: ZoĂŤ Devlin 24: Victorian Hunters 28: Bipinnula gabriel 30: Events 32: Bipinnula gabriel