Orchids of Finsbury Estate

FINSBURY ORCHIDS

Of the many wonderful things that got me hooked on this beautiful place, the most powerful was the flowers. So very numerous and showy compared to the Lowveld from which I hailed. Then, when I started identifying and learning about these plentiful flowers, the Orchids reached out to me and swallowed me up whole! It has gotten to the point where Orchid hunting has become a hobby of mine and, in the years that I have been here, I have recorded and photographed 47 species on or very near the estate within the Mount Anderson Water Catchment Reserve. This is certainly not the total amount of species that occur here and every season I discover more.

Apart from the Daisy family of flowering plants, Orchids are the largest family, with about 28000 species worldwide. South Africa is endowed with a whopping 474 species compared to North America with 213 species and the whole of Europe with 182 species. Of those 474 species, 66%, or 314 species are endemics to the region, meaning that they only occur in South Africa and nowhere else. Interestingly, the trend for the last couple of decades shows that about 1 new species, on average, is discovered per year in South Africa. I look forward to the day that I discover a new species here on Finsbury Estate. Those with long memories might recall my little blog of 19 February 2017 when I found a species on the summit of Mount Anderson that was not in my orchid identification book, which is comprehensive, and after sending it off for identification, discovered it was not in my book because it was only described after the book was published in 2015. Close!

What makes orchids so special is there complex design, amongst the most complex of all plants. This complexity attracts very specific insects which minimises the chances of the wrong pollinators collecting pollen and then wasting it on other, different flowers whose characteristics also attract it. Specialised pollinators tend to concentrate more on a particular species of flower instead of the general frequency of colour that is reflected off the flower. Still, even allowing for the complexity, the flower is made up of 3 petals and 3 sepals like any typical lily. The lower petal is usually modified to form a lip, which is a landing platform and guide for the pollinating insect. The lip is also usually further modified to incorporate a spur, a long tapering tube, that projects backwards from the flower and mostly contains nectar. To reach this nectar, the pollinator must have a tongue that is the correct length, otherwise it will not reach it. In some instances, I have observed Chafer beetles that have chewed through the wall of the spur to reach the nectar so even this system is not infallible! Many species of orchid mimic other plants and because of this, still develop a spur, but do not manufacture the expensive nectar because the pollinator would have already been duped, and collected the pollentia, before it realized there was no reward.

Another feature unique to orchids, and Milkweeds too (see blog of "Enter the New Year", January 2019) is that the male and female reproductive structures are fused together into a column. The pollen produced from this structure also does not resemble a powder but comes in a waxy package, called a pollinia, that is sticky on one end. This sticky patch attaches the pollinia to a very particular part of the insects body so that, if the insect visits another species of orchid, the pollinia will not come into contact with the appropriate receptors in the incorrect species, thus minimising the chances of hybridisation. 

Orchid seeds are also unique in that they are minute, like dust, and contain no storage tissue to assist in germination. Instead, orchids must rely on a symbiotic association with fungi in order to successfully germinate. Also, some orchids are designed to dry up in such a way that, if they are not pollinated during the flower's life-span, the pollinia will drop into its own receptors and self-pollinate.

Graeme Naylor from Cochy-byndhu (unit 1), together with Leslie Baartman, had a lot to do with orchid identification on the estate before I got here and their work certainly helped in identifying many of the orchids I have come across since being here. Hell, my comprehensive orchid identification book was even given to me by Graeme, who recently visited me in my office and, after enthusiastically showing him some of my discoveries, suggested I showcase the Finsbury orchids on a blog.  

I will introduce all the species I have found so far, and describe how you can find them in two parts because it is a long list. Below is a gallery of the species that I have found so far on the estate and a short description of where and when to find them:

PART ONE

The orchids in the genus Brownlea have the median petal modified as a hood and a spur. This is a Dark Blue Brownlea, Brownlea coerulea. Very common on the floor in the shade of the forests in the upper Majubane waterfall walk during February and March. Pollinated by long-probiscid flies.

Galpin's Brownlea, Brownlea galpinii, is a mimic of the Wild Scabious, Scabiosa columbaria, and so does not produce it's own nectar. This Brownlea is not as common as the previous species and I have only encountered it a few times. This one was photographed in the moist grasslands just at the source of the gorge that runs into Rock Solid (unit22) from the base of Mount Prospect.

This Small-flowered Brownlea, Brownlea parviflora, is rather easy to overlook in the grassy plains and so I have only encountered one once in the flat plains of Haartebeesvlakte and one on the slope south of, and very close to the Hidden Valley sundowner spot. Flowering in February and March, they are pollinated by Anthophorid Bees.

Kassner's Dog-orchid, Cyanorkis kassneriana, is a common orchid that flowers from January until now. They can be found in all the montane forests on the estate. Also easy to spot between the Pine needles in the Pine forest above "The Crofts", unit 19.

The Disa genus contains the most species of the South African orchids, and like the Brownlea genus, the median petal is modified into a hood and a spur. In last months blog, I featured a little blurb about the Highland Doublwing, Disa alticola. I mentioned how, during the bioblitz that I attended next door, we discovered a colony of these lovely little orchids near the Rattray's repeater up on Goudkoppies. Before this, they were only known from 5 other locations and so this colony was mapped by the botanists from SANBI (South African National Biodiversity Institute) the following week. I also mentioned that I accompanied Louise Twiggs, the artist from "the Crofts", up to this spot to photograph the plant so she could paint it. Well, this is a photo of her stunning painting. Well done, Louise, you have captured it perfectly! Visit Louise's website at louisetwiggs.co.za or on facebook at LouiseTwiggsArt to check out her other amazing work. This orchid is listed as "Vulnerable" in the Red List of South African Plants. 

This Pleasant Doublewing, Disa amoena, has an extremely localised distribution and is only found in this small area surrounding Lydenberg. It is, however, rather common here at higher altitudes and I have already found 4 different colour forms, some within the same colony, on the estate. See the long spurs extending from the rear of the flowers, only long-probiscid flies can pollinate these orchids.This orchid is listed as "Vulnerable" in the Red List of South African Plants.

This Pleasant Doublewing, Disa amoena, has an extremely localised distribution and is only found in this small area surrounding Lydenberg. It is, however, rather common here at higher altitudes and I have already found 4 different colour forms, some within the same colony, on the estate. See the long spurs extending from the rear of the flowers, only long-probiscid flies can pollinate these orchids.This orchid is listed as "Vulnerable" in the Red List of South African Plants.  

The Baure's Doublewing, Disa baurii, is widespread but uncommon in its range. This is the only one I have ever encountered on the estate and I have even returned to the spot in the grasslands just below the sundowner spot right up on top of the Razorback road where I found it, and have not seen it again. It blooms in the early spring in September and October.

Is that not stunning! Standing 400mm tall, with lush cauline leaves, it is a Club-horned Doublewing, Disa clavicornis, and I have only encountered it twice on the estate so far, and believe me, when I did, I fell to my knees and cried out in joy! The first time was in the high altitude grasslands between Steenkamp's waterfalls and Mount Anderson's peak. This one I found right up on the summit of Mount Anderson in December 2017, a great month to visit the summit for special flowers of all kinds. This orchid is listed as very rare and as "Endangered" in the Red List of South African plants.

A sensual Kluge's Doublewing, Disa klugei, another species restricted to the grasslands only around Lydenburg. Besides finding 3 individuals up on Goudkoppies during the recent bioblitz, I have only found them twice before on the estate, with an easy-to-find individual beside the path of the Rock Kestrel Trail just before it meets the access road to Rod's Rest (unit 7). Also listed as "Vulnerable" in the Red List of South African plants.

A sensual Kluge's Doublewing, Disa klugei, another species restricted to the grasslands only around Lydenburg. Besides finding 3 individuals up on Goudkoppies during the recent bioblitz, I have only found them twice before on the estate, with an easy-to-find individual beside the path of the Rock Kestrel Trail just before it meets the access road to Rod's Rest (unit 7). Also listed as "Vulnerable" in the Red List of South African plants.

The Spreading Doublewing, Disa patula, is represented by 2 subspecies on the estate. This, the transvaalensis subspecies' inflorescence is narrower than the patula subspecies and the spur and median sepals are slightly different. This individual is located right beside the Rock Kestrel Trail path, but this time at the beginning, just after the first slope 300 meters from the parking in Hidden Valley. Both subspecies are common in our grasslands between November and January.

This striking little orchid is pretty common in our high altitude grasslands, particularly on the open flats of Goudkoppies, between December and February. It only stands about 10 - 15cm from the floor but the bright colouration makes it quite easy to spot. It is a Spike-like Doublewing, Disa stachyoides.

This, the Sterkers Doublewing, Disa sterkeriana, is the orchid I was mentioning in the introduction to this blog, the one that was not in my orchid book because it was only recently described. The only plants of this species known are found on the very tippy-top of Mount Anderson between the middle of January to the end of February. That's it! In the whole world! Because of this, it is listed as "Critically Endangered" in the Red List of South African plants. Every year I hike up to the summit during that time just to get another look at these spectacular flowers so, if you want to see them, let me know and you can join me next year when I go again.

This is a close-up of a single flower on the long inflorescence of a Variable Doublewing, Disa versicolor, that stands a good half a meter tall. This one I found in the marshy grasslands just above River Lily crossing on the Rock Kestrel Trail. I had only encountered this single individual until Trent from next door found another right down in the valley near the Origstad Nature Reserve during the recent bioblitz. The name is derived from the variable colouration of the flowers from individual to individual. 

The next genus we move on to is the Disperis genus, named the Granny Bonnet orchids because their flowers resemble that old traditional headwear. These, the Horn-flowered Granny Bonnet, Disperis anthoceros, are found in small colonies and are relatively common on the forest floors of the estate but quite easily overlooked because of their small size. Find them midway between the parking and the Steenkamp's waterfalls during February and March.

Fannin's Granny Bonnet Orchids occupy the darkest, shadiest spots on the forest floor and are in flower between January and March. When first seen, they appear to be a bunch of clansmen holding a secret meeting in the forest! Instead of producing nectar, these flowers produce an oil that is sought after by Oil-collecting Bees from the Melittidae family. These solitary bees, from the oldest known bee fossils 100 million years ago, have pouches on their legs that carry oil instead of pollen. The bee uses this oil to waterproof the underground chamber that she has prepared for her offspring. She also mixes some of the oil with pollen that she leaves in this chamber, with her eggs, as food for her young once they hatch (other bees mix nectar with pollen for this).

I found this Lindleyana's Granny Bonnet, Disperis lindleyana, together with Fraser Moore from Rock Solid, unit 22, in December while exploring the gorge above Solitude Valley (while hiding away from incessant lightning!). Although it was the first one that I have found, they are apparently common amongst pine needles on the floor of plantations.

These little orchids stand about 10cm tall and the flowers are only about 5mm long. It is a Small-flowered Granny Bonnet, Disperis micrantha, and although they are quite common amongst leaf litter on the forest floor, they are also very easily overlooked. You can be sure to find a colony on the floor of the thicket that surrounds my old digs, the outside room just below Solitude, unit 5, right now, in fact (I will go check tomorrow). In the 4 years I stayed there, one little individual bloomed from a little depression caused by a broken-off branch on a Quilted Bluebush tree every season without fail, although there was so little soil in the depression that I could clearly make out the bulb of the plant.

I was just reaching a false horizon up above Steenkamp's waterfalls on the way to Mount Formosa, when I came eye-to-eye with this very strange looking orchid, a Disperis renibractea which thankfully gave me reason to pause. This Granny Bonnet orchid also produces oil instead of nectar and so attracts melittid bees. Interestingly, there are 2 sub-tribes of orchids in South America that also produce oil instead of nectar. But instead of being visited by a female bee, they are instead visited by male Euglossine bees, called Orchid Bees, that sweep up the oils with their front legs, squeeze the oil-drenched combs with their second pair of legs so that the oil drips into spongy sacks attached to their hind legs. In fact, the male bee spends a lot of his valuable time seeking out these volatile oils that he requires to mix together and emit, in his territory, as a perfume to advertise his prowess and hopefully attract a female with which to mate. The above orchid can be found in open grassland from December till February.    

This little flock of alien avian creatures was hiding amongst the grasses on our boundary with Whisky Creek and Emoyeni, above the Majubane waterfall, close to Little Joker Koppie. This is a Narrow-spurred Granny Bonnet, Disperis stenoplectron, and, again, is an oil producing orchid. It is also known to hybridise, naturally, with Tyson's Granny Bonnet. Now, during the introduction to this blog, I mentioned how the pollinia of orchids adhered to specific body regions of the pollinating insect so as to avoid hybridising with closely related species. This is because orchids hybridise very easily and that is another reason why they are so popular to horticulturalists the world over. Orchid breeders call a recognized hybrid breed a "grexe" and there are more than 100 000 official grexes in the world derived from 5000 species of orchids and their hybrids. In nature, though, hybridization is rare but common enough in some orchids to have necessitated the creation of terms like "hybrid swarms" to describe a situation when offspring  are produced by cross-pollination between two hybrids or one or both of their parents. These Hybrid swarms cover the full continuum of variations between the two species and really throw a spanner in the works!

I found this Thorncroft's Granny Bonnet, Disperis thorncroftii, and photographed it in December 2014 and I cannot remember where. This is even more frustrating when I consider that it is regarded as very rare and is only found in limited forests in the country, both coastal and montane.

Sweet! I first encountered one of these little orchids growing in leaf litter on the floor of a Black Wattle thicket that me and my team were destroying on the side of the gorge behind Bulldozer Creek, unit 21, some years ago. I excitedly took photos and that night, when I checked my photos and identified the orchid, I saw that my pictures were all blurred because my camera lens was smeared with something. On learning that it is regarded as rare, I immediately set out the next day to get some clear photos and, alas, it was nowhere to be found. All I found were work boot tracks from when my team moved through there the day before. It was only a few years later when I cut the Olinia Gorge trail in Hidden Valley that I found a whole colony of about a dozen individuals flowering beside the stream close to the exit of the gorge. Go there between February and now to get a glimpse of them. It's worth it. 

I will move on to the Eulophia genus in PART TWO in a few days. One thing this shutdown has done for me, is given me ample time to work on my flower project and I have just completed sorting all flowers on my list, which is well over 600 species, into a "Flowers by Colour and Month" format that I will try to download onto the website soon. You will, hopefully, be able to download it onto your phone or tablet so you can take it out into the field and use it to help identify the flowers you see on the estate.

Cheerio and stay safe!