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Hi All
I lived for many years in the deep southwest of Western Australia where the
only orchids that grow are terrestrials. I noticed a couple of things that may
be of interest.
Across the road from the house that my wife and I built was a disused
timber mill. At the top of the hill there was an area perhaps 3m x 5m where the
topsoil (20cm) had been taken off with a front end loader of some kind. This
left the sub soil which was nothing but ironstone pebbles. It is as hard as
rock. Every year masses of terrestrial orchids grew through the ironstone.
Caladenias,(Spider orchid) Diuris,(Donkey orchid) etc, and loads of
natural hybrids too.
There were far more orchids growing on this patch than the surrounding area
with great topsoil.
I also noticed one time, on a dirt track, that had been graded, that a
Diuris was growing on the top of the mound that the grader had pushed to the
side of the road.
I do not subscribe to the idea of disturbing orchid environments for the
hell of it, but they do often seem to survive despite some of the dumb things
that we humans do to them.
Tony
Wanneroo Orchid Society
http://members.iinet.net.au/~emntee/page2.html Wanneroo Newsletter http://members.iinet.net.au/~emntee/page49.html The Species Orchid Society http://members.iinet.net.au/~emntee/page18.html Species Orchid Society Newsletter. http://members.iinet.net.au/%7Eemntee/page17.html |
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