Got a different day lined up for a clear blue sky day. Meeting a friend to walk Seven Mile Beach NP. Lucky break is my wife's friend will drive her to her lunch date - no taxi duties
You can tell it is going to be different when you find two chickens scratching around in a National Park
Been a long while since I have walked track with someone else - two pairs of eyes help
More than two pairs as we were accompanied by Dave, the service dog in his uniform. That was a new idea - walking a NP with a dog and his permits
Two sets of eyes found the first orchid - nodding greenhood
Side on - pterostylis nutans
Found a colony of this greenhood on my side of the track - this is a handy ID challenge - pterostlyis we know.
Oblonga vs erecta is the debate. The Latin name is a clue - something is longer . Colours are a clue. The angle of the helmet and the length of the point is a clue - especially before the flower forms fully. We saw a lot of super long points.
A big colony of at least 20 flowers- not seen them this close to the start of the walk - I see short points. Going to say pterostylis oblonga per my Alan Stephenson guide. This was his patch
Front on - subdued colours and elongated helmet
Fern growing out of a tree stump in memory of my primary school friend - Robyn Langage - RIP. I think of her each time I see a fern like this
A little mushroom and mould action on a fallen tree
The mission for today was two greenhoods - this one is one. An enigma. Two things are clear - labellum has a small twist. Labellum has a red ridge line
Will the rosette help? A longish pedicel and quite large eucalyptus shaped leaves
Definitely a twist in the labellum and a red ridge line. The twist says blunt greenhood - pterostylis curta
Next in the ID challenge - these are maroonhoods - look the same as the others we saw
Side on the curve of the helmet is shorter- maybe pterostylis erecta. Need DNA to know if they are different- morphology has too many similarities
Next test - rosette time
And the labellum test. Twisted? A little. Not red? -Yes
No doubt of the twist here - pterostylis curta- blunt greenhood
Side on - a bit nibbled
Matching rosette - short pedicels
Next test. Twisted labellum? No. Red ridge? Yes. Yep it is different
Leaf structure is different too - long stalks to the leaf
Conclusion - different - pterostylis hildae
- rainforest greenhood. Not common and found north of Nowra. This one is at the southern edge
Found a lot more maroonhoods both sides of the track. Fully formed they look similar - in budding form some of them have way longer points to helmet
These elongated helmets on some
Pea flower- climbing up high - a long way to the top
I always talk about the car park test. I did walk the whole edge of this park when I waited for my friend. Did not find anything. Saw these when we finished the walk. A cluster of greenhoods and acianthus orchids in the lawn. Blunt greenhood open
Twisted labellum showing
One budding.
Turned into a good walk to show an experienced orchid spotter - found 5 orchids inside 2 hours
Chose to head home for lunch and an at home afternoon. Body is fending off her cold - chose not to go to my son's place. Chose also not to go to friends for drinks with my wife. I want to nail this incoming cold/flu. Also used the time to do investing accounting and make dinner
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Height183.0 cm |  | Weight90.0 kg |  | Body Fat% |  |
Waistcm |  | Thighscm |  | Chestcm |  |
