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| Shhh....Orchid Hunters at work |
This week I was lucky enough to join Master Orchid Hunter
Peter Fehre on an excursion while he was showing other enthusiasts around.
Three of them had specifically come down from the North West Coast to see some of our
Spider Orchids. Peter has been photographing orchids for about eleven years and knows each one personally. He knows exactly where they live and
when they are likely to be in flower. This is just as well as I walked over
this whole reserve last week and only saw a couple of Leopard Orchids and the
tiniest Greenhood, despite having a map.
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| My first Spider Orchid - Caladenia Caudata |
Unlike Western Australian orchids some of which practically
jump into your face – see for example, last year's sun orchids, Tasmanian
orchids are small, rare and discreet like tiny jewels. One species or another is likely to be in
flower at most times of the year, though late spring seems to be the best. At least two hundred species are known to exist in
Tasmania. What makes this field exciting is that it is still in flux. As with
fungi, as more people take notice and get involved, more and more species are
coming to light. Even today, there is such variation among the Caladenia Caudata
from various shades of crimson and cream through to a bright yellow, my fellow
orchid hunters are already wondering whether the latter could in fact be a
separate subspecies. We will wait and see.
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| A double Caladenia Caudata |
So far today they have already seen about a dozen orchids elsewhere, but there are many more here. Still, Peter is disappointed that some of his ‘regulars’
have disappeared. Some of them have not come back after burning off. Others
have accidentally been scooped up in the course of council work and still
others have gone for reasons that are less clear. Global warming? Too many dog
walkers or careless feet? Orchids work in mysterious ways. Some can only
flourish in the presence of a particular fungus. Others rely on highly specific
insects. Take one or the other away and they die. Despite the many cultivars,
wild orchids do not do well if transplanted. Although experiments are underway
at the Royal Botanic Gardens which are celebrating a rare success story, wild orchids
are best admired where they have chosen to live.
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| Each orchid does seem to have a distinct personality |
Humans have long been fascinated by orchids. They are one
of the oldest plants – about 80 million years old according to the fossil
record, and can be found in most habitats from the Arctic to the deserts, with
the exception of Antarctica and the odd recently formed coral island. Currently
about 26,000 species have been identified globally and they are also one of the most
prolific plant forms. As well as being appreciated for their beauty and their symmetry, they have variously been associated with healing and
fertility, not the least because their root structure bears similarity to the
male scrotum. In the Victorian era orchids represented wealth and a touch of the exotic while to the more repressed the orchid's reproductive parts were considered blatantly sexual,
but then so did chair legs and piano ‘limbs.’ And did you know that the common
flavouring Vanilla actually comes from an orchid?
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| A yellow double |
If you would like to see what the distribution of orchids around the
world looks like or what it's like where you live, click here
You can see that while obviously far more prolific in the tropics, Tasmania does quite well. My photos are just to whet your appetite. If you want to see some truly amazing orchid photography you should look at some of Peter's work on Flickr or on the Tasmanian Native Orchids Facebook site and yes, he has given up his day job to devote his time to this.
Many thanks Peter and friends for a lovely afternoon, also to Geoff Carle another accomplished Orchid Hunter and macro photographer, who joined us later and
gave me some great tips afterwards for getting better results from my camera.
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| It's not easy being an orchid hunter AND a good photographer. Geoff carries a cutdown polystyrene container to reduce the wind and the glare. Jill carries a white umbrella for the same purpose. Everyone seems to have elaborate photographic gear with big lenses and tripods and you do have to be prepared to get down and dirty. Patience is a virtue too, but at least they don't run or fly away. |
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