Flora of the Otway Plain and Ranges 1: Orchids, Irises, Lilies, Grass-trees, Mat-rushes and Other Petaloid Monocotyledons

By Enid Mayfield

The Otway region of Victoria, with its temperate rainforests, mountain ash forests, heathlands, plains and coastal dunes, has an extraordinarily rich and diverse flora. The first volume of Flora of the Otway Plain and Ranges covers the orchids, irises, lilies, grass-trees, mat-rushes and other petaloid monocotyledonous plants.

Enid Mayfield's exquisite colour illustrations of more than 200 species reveal tiny botanical details which enable the untrained botanist to identify each species with ease. The section on orchids describes and illustrates more than 130 species, highlighting their fascinating adaptations for attracting specific pollinating insects.

The clear text and illustrations frequently draw attention to the relationship of plants to the broader environment, the impact of fire, the role of pollinators and the importance of fungi.

• Language: English
• Publisher: CSIRO PUBLISHING
• Release date: Jun 1, 2010
• ISBN: 9780643102002

Enid Mayfield

Enid Mayfield is an Honorary Associate of the Royal Botanic Gardens in Victoria, Australia. She has contributed to the Flora of Australia project and many other publications, including her own two-volume Flora of the Otway Plain and Ranges. Enid is notable for her skill in researching complex scientific topics and then writing and illustrating them to be accessible to a wider audience.

Book preview

KEY

WHAT FLOWER IS THIS?

Diplarraena White Iris page 39

Libertia Grass-flag page 40

Caesia Grass-lily page 28-29

Burchardia Milkmaids page 25

Drymophila Turquoise Berry page 60

Laxmannia Wire-lily page 47

Wurmbea Early Nancy page 26-27

Xanthorrhoea Grass-tree page 192-194

Thelymitra Sun Orchid pages 168-169

Caladenia Hooded Caladenia page 69

Burnettia Lizard Orchid page 66

Leptoceras Hare Orchid page 126

Eriochilus Parson’s Bands page 120

Caladenia Spider Orchid page 68

Xyris Yellow-eye pages 195-196

Hypoxis Star-flowers pages 36-38

Lomandra Mat-rush page 48

Bulbine Bulbine Lily page 23

Thelionema Tufted Lily page 56

Tricoryne Rush Lily page 35

Diuris Donkey Orchid page 115-119

Microtidium Onion Orchid page 128

Thelymitra Sun Orchid page 168-169

Astelia Astelia page 24

Sarchochilus Butterfly Orchid page 165

Gastrodia Potato Orchid page 121-122

Pterostylis Greenhood Orchid page 144-145

Corunastylis Midge Orchid page 101-105

Microtis Onion Orchid page 129-130

Prasophyllum Leek Orchid page 135-142

Caladenia Hooded Caladenia page 69

Leptoceras Hare Orchid page 125

Caladenia Spider Orchid page 68

Thynninorchis Elbow Orchid page 190

Paracaleana Duck Orchid page 133

Chiloglottis Bird Orchid page 97-100

Thelymitra Sun Orchid page 168-169

Caladenia Hooded Caladenia page 94-96

Cryptostylis Tongue Orchid page 109

Orthoceras Horned Orchid page 131-132

Patersonia Purple Flag page 42-43

Alisma Water Plantain page 22

Arthropodium Chocolate Lily page 45

Thysanotus Fringe Lilies page 57-59

Arthropodium Pale Vanilla-lily page 44

Caesia Grass-lily page 28-29

Dianella Flax-lily page 30-34

Orthrosanthus Morning-flag page 41

Chamaescilla Blue Squill page 46

Caladenia Pink Fairies Fingers page 69

Leptoceras Hare Orchid page 126

Eriochilus Parson’s Bands page 120

Burnettia Lizard Orchid page 66

Thelymitra Sun Orchid page 168-169

Glossodia Wax-lip Orchid page 124

Pheladenia Bluebeard Orchid page 134

Cyanicula Blue Fingers page 110

Thelymitra Sun Orchid page 168-169

Spiranthes Austral Ladies Tresses page 166

Dipodium Hyacinth Orchids page 113-114

Leptoceras Hare Orchid page 126

Eriochilus Parson’s Bands page 120

Caladenia Fairy Orchid Fingers page 69

Pterostylis Greenhood page 145

Calochilus Beard Orchid page 94-96

Corunastylis Midge Orchid page 101-105

Acianthus Mosquito Orchid Mayfly Orchid page 64-65

Chiloglottis Bird Orchid page 97-100

Cyrtostylis Gnat Orchid page 111-112

Corybas Helmet Orchid page 106-108

Caleana Duck Orchid page 93

Paracaleana Duck Orchid page 133

Lyperanthus Brown Beaks page 127

Pyrorchis Red Beaks page 164

Cryptostylis Tongue Orchid page 109

PETALOID MONOCOTYLEDONS

CHARACTERISTICS OF FAMILIES

ALISMATACEAE

Water Plantains

A small family of aquatic perennials; leaves with long petioles and a distinct blade; numerous small flowers on branched whorls along the stem; fruit an achene.

ASPHODELACEAE

Bulbines

Often succulent-leaved herbs or occasionally small trees; flowers on pedicels; pedicels often jointed; tepals 1-nerved; fruit a capsule.

ASTELIACEAE

Astelias

Plants of cool moist places; leaves linear to lanceolate, with a silvery-white coating; flowers in bracteate racemes or spikes; fruit usually a berry.

COLCHICACEAE

Milkmaids and Wurmbeas

Perennial herbs usually with nectaries to attract pollinators; with a rhizome or tunicate corm and roots sometimes tuberous; each tepal encloses an anther in bud; styles deeply divided; fruit a capsule.

HEMEROCALLIDACEAE

Daylilies

Perennial herbs or shrubs usually having branched flower stems with sequentially-opening, fleeting flowers; rootstock mostly a rhizome; leaves linear to ovate; anthers releasing pollen through pores or slits on the side; fruit a berry or capsule.

HYPOXIDACEAE

Star-flowers

Grassland herbs with annual leaves (Hypoxis) or rainforest shrubs; leaves at base, from rhizomes or corms; flowers with six stamens, often yellow; ovary below tepals; fruit a capsule or fleshy.

IRIDACEAE

Irises

Flowers are colourful and typically have six petal-like segments and three stamens; the ovary is below the tepals; the flower or group of flowers has two bracts (spathe) at the base; leaves are usually in two rows on either side of the stem and grow from corms, rhizomes or bulbs; fruit capsules split from the apex.

LAXMANNIACEAE

Lilies and Mat-rushes

The members of this family look very different and it is difficult to give common characteristics linking them that are immediately visible to the eye. Flowers have six segments and are on jointed pedicels. The ovary is above the tepals.

LUZURIAGACEAE

Drymophilas

Flowers are white or pale pink and have six petal-like segments; the stem is wiry; leaves are alternate, arranged in rows on either side of the stem branches and twist through 180 degrees at the base.

XANTHORRHOEACEAE

Grass-trees

Plants with thick woody stems above and/or below ground; leaves are long and linear in dense tufts at the tips of the stems; flowers are arranged spirally in a massive dense spike on a woody axis.

XYRIDACEAE

Yellow-eyed Grasses

Herbs of marshy areas with grass-like leaves with an open sheath at the base; flowers are borne in tough bracts in a head or dense spike, and have three petals, which are usually yellow and ephemeral.

ORCHIDACEAE

Orchids

Flowers have three sepals and three petals with one petal (the labellum) usually very different from the other two; the style and stamens are united to form a column; the single fertile stamen and the stigma are on the column; pollen is usually bound together in compact packets (pollinia), which often attach by a sticky substance to the pollinating insect for ease of transfer to the next flower.

Subtribe CALADENIINAE

Subtribe MEGASTYLIDINAE

Subtribe DRAKAEINAE

Subtribe DIURIDINAE

Subtribe CRYPTOSTYLIDINAE

Subtribe THELYMITRINAE

Subtribe ACIANTHINAE

Subtribe PRASOPHYLLINAE

PETALOID MONOCOTYLEDONS

CHARACTERISTICS

Characteristics of Petaloid Monocotyledons

A seed is a tiny embryonic plant with a store of food and one or two seed-leafs (cotyledons), all enclosed in the seed coat. Monocotyledons have one seed-leaf and dicotyledons have two. Monocotyledons and dicotyledons are the two great divisions of the most highly evolved plants, the flowering plants (Angiosperms).

With flowering plants (Angiosperms) the ovary arose in evolution and, unlike ferns and conifers, seeds developed in a protected chamber. At maturity, they were enclosed in a fruit, perhaps a berry or a capsule. Gradually two distinct groups differentiated, the monocotyledons and the dicotyledons. They share the characteristic ovary and enclosed seed but differ in other characteristics. Petaloid monocotyledons include lilies, irises, orchids and grass-trees. The more primitive lily-like monocotyledons have a superior ovary that sits in the centre of the flower. Irises and orchids have an inferior ovary that is beneath the flower. Non-petaloid monocotyledons include grasses, rushes and sedges.

Flower parts are arranged in threes (rarely fours). Sepals and petals are in multiples of three. Lily-like flowers have six stamens and irises have three. The three stamens in orchids have been compressed into the column.

The rootstock may be a rhizome, corm, or bulb. Most terrestrial orchids have an underground stem that develops tubers.

The leaf is usually simple and undivided and grows from the base of the plant. Typically, it is narrow with parallel veins that run along its length. Rarely, it is another shape. Alisma species have a leaf blade that is ovate or elliptical but the veins are still more or less parallel, in curves that reflect the margin.

ALISMATACEAE

WATER PLANTAINS

Alisma L. referring to the Latin and Greek name for the