10 escape but able to move 

 Imt. ifte tosecJ uanfes mil Its role 



,„ the poliiuatiot. system pi ife 



fewer Presently the labcllum la 



lb rclc;.se the insect which, we 



Orchid W continue its pollination 

 Zgfjjte The labcllum is then ready 

 £ be triggered by lite next insect 

 c M j|i4hts ii. Bin whai it i« thai 

 "iUTan insect to lhal chocolate- 

 hl0 wn head does not seem lo be 

 known 



, .,„., wc loinid the Small Duck 

 0rt |,id Oiher orchids IH«Iua»J Ifte 

 Homed Orchid. A'astr,.! Leek Oi- 

 chid . I urge Tongue Orchid and the 

 r ,„,cd longue Orchid which er- 

 ne* its flower vertically instead of 

 mute W less horizontally, l ike Duck 

 Oichids. the llowcrs of Leek Orchids 

 mid Tongue Orchids are mveited^ 

 Ifje lahelhim is above the column. 



We Hid enjoyed the soft coloui 

 pj lllue Dampier.i' en route lor it 

 incurred m scattered patches by the 

 rtiUfcfrle. II was plenliful at this stop 

 mo but was outshone by the l arge 

 t.ui.flowcr . I hesc Dowers are I"- 

 II" aetoss with the live petals spread 

 Dill on one side like a fan, so the 

 common name could hardly be more 

 ,pr Some of thern were a compara- 

 tively pale blue, same a mauve 

 colour, and main were a wonderfully 

 rich purple blue. 



rhcrc were several other flowers 

 in the blue to purple range T licit 

 MB the nehlv coloured Tufted Blue- 

 ,,,, ,„.■ BhK-flpljBS Milk.«KWl " llC 

 pink Heath Milkwort' was iherc too 

 jnd m much greater quantity I , a 

 l,.w flowing mauve Fringed I. ily'" and. 

 ftj | laiei stop near a tinv Mil am. 

 \M eam.1 M several clumps of f .mies' 

 \pro-.H- !l ttiese damiy little llOWW* 

 **rc white instead of blue thev would 

 >urc)v he tailed Ballerina. 



Of Ihc many nlhet pRUft at Irut 



May. 1971 



spot Golden Spray' was probably the 

 most spectacular. Along a swampy 

 area bushes up 10 sis feet high car- 

 ried long sprays of yellow pea 

 How civ The pink Swamp Hcalh 

 also nourished in that damp part- 

 And the tall Iruiling spikes of a 

 In ass Tree' 1 dominated a drier ..rca. 



There were several small, sp'ikcd. 

 jewel spideTS hero but a latgcr spulL'r 

 captured (he attention ot us all. It 

 was about 1" long — the body 

 sniped black and yellow, the head 

 grce. It vsj> far loo absoibed in leed- 

 tfflj on a Ily to be disturbed by 

 cameras only 6" away oi by an 

 occasional ilirust against Uic grass 

 hlades to which its weh was attached. 

 II wcus a St. Andrews Cross Spider. 



A I another stop wc found great 

 quantities of Wedding Bush' . Some 

 bushes were heavily loaded with |" 

 spiky balls, but others si Ml had a few 

 llowcrs. Members were interested to 

 leam that male and female flowers 

 arc produced on different hushes. 

 I lies observed the dilTcrence between 

 the two flowers and were then a bit 

 shaken when they louiul male 

 fluwers on a hush bearing Ihc ball- 

 like fruits! But plants have- art awk- 

 ward tendency to produce exceptions 

 that confound the general rule. 



Al various places along Ihe road 

 were lovclv sprays of Prickly Tea- 

 tree flT Manuka ! I his plan! is so 

 well-known and so widespread that 

 wc lend to overlook it in our eager- 

 ness to see less familiar ihings. bul 

 it is surelv one ol the attractive 

 features of our bush — whether in Jar 

 l,ippv|j iu l or neai-to home Hande- 

 CiCllgS. Qr would this Gippsland 

 species be the old Lvpiosin;»\\nu 

 \<t.<l>tit iiim? 



Neat tamboOn lnlcl we were met 

 h\ .. menibet of the club who was 

 vamping Ihe-ie. He joined^ us again 

 the next day at Tonghi Creek. 



121 



