Spidery orchids

Although the conservatory at the Wellington Botanic Garden is called the Begonia House it shelters a wonderful range of tender and tropical plants.  The attraction of their exotic colours and shapes, not to mention the shelter and warmth provided for them, is particularly strong in winter.  When I visited it this week, the busy web of spidery white flowers in front of more familiar orchid shapes caught my eye.

The label said Epidendrum ciliolaris, but I subsequently read that in 2004 it was renamed Coilostylis ciliaris.  It is also known as hairy-lip epidendrum (!) or fringed star orchid.  It is from Central America and South America to Brazil.  It grows in wet warm conditions, and flowers in winter and spring.

The white and whitish green flowers are fragrant at night - attracting moths which pollinate them.  But it was daytime and I could not detect a perfume.  They were in the warmest most moist area of the conservatory - I think of it as having a lush jungle-y feel. 

Tillandsias, the so-called air plants, grow without soil and perch on other plants but get no nourishment from them.  Their leaves are narrow and greyish in colour and in the conservatory they are displayed on a stylish metal frame, so the area has a very different feel - drier, more austere.  But lo, another spidery orchid was to be seen there...

Cirrhopetalum Elizabeth Ann 'Buckleberry'.

This is a hybrid which gained the highest award given by the American Orchid Society.It is apparently easily grown, and the photographs online, taken by enthusiastic orchid growers, show plants with many of these dangling groups of flowers.  But I have little other information about it part from the fact that it is also epiphytic and the name refers to the fringed petals - a naughty mix of Latin (cirrus - fringe) and Greek (petalon - petal).  The namer was not a purist.

These flowers are like the Coilostylis in that they both feature fringing and what I think of as a spidery appearance - but how different they are.  I started wondering about my use of the word spidery.  I was not suggesting they they were infested with spiders - one meaning in the dictionary.  And they don't look like a fine spiderweb, as in spidery handwriting.  But yes, the long narrow shapes could be a bit like a spider's legs.  Just not too literally. 

And now, back to winter - another severe southerly storm is predicted.

A firm footing - macrocarpas on Maupuia

A lot of big trees fell or were badly damaged during the recent severe storm and most of them were exotic conifers.  Curiously the two most common exotic conifers in New Zealand are the Monterey pine (Pinus radiata) and the Monterey cypress (Cupressus macrocarpa).  Both have a very restricted natural range (in the case of the macrocarpa, to Monterey on the coast of California - more specifically Cypress Point at Pebble Beach and Point Lobo near Carmel) where the native populations, relics of much larger forests, are under threat.  However, in New Zealand, they have both thrived and sometimes seem to be rampant. 

Macrocarpas are tolerant of harsh coastal conditions.  They were introduced here in the 1860's and were often planted in windbreaks on coastal farms where their spreading branches and quite dense foliage also gave good shelter for stock.  There are a lot of large macrocarpas in Wellington's town belt, and a number of them growing on Mt Victoria have been seen world wide - they featured in the first "Lord of the Rings" movie.  On the coastal road along the Maupuia peninsula, between Scorching Bay and Mahanga Bay, two macrocarpas put on a different show...

They are growing in a rocky outcrop - straight from the rock - who needs soil?  Closer up, the disruption of the rock by the roots is evident.  Thus they create the conditions for the tree to survive...

The cracks in the rock, fractured by the strong roots, will catch water.  Some of the minerals in the crumbling rock are presumably available to be taken up.  And there is plenty of sunshine.  On the other hand, there is salty spray and harsh wind - burning of foliage is evident on even the most resilient plants along the coast since the big storm, some absolutely devastated as if by fire.  Neverthless, these trees are of decent size, and do not seem to have been daunted by the storm.  Impressive.

Rose "Summer Passion" - in midwinter!

In the rose garden at the Wellington Botanic Garden a few of the roses have a few blooms left - despite it being midwinter and the bushes being bare of leaves.  A pretty pink rose caught my eye.  I haven't noticed this one before.  I smiled - it was a surprising sight and a sweetly incongrous name...

Rose "Summer Passion," bred by New Zealander Gina Martin.  It is said to flower well all season - and beyond, if this is anything to go by. 

Roses tend to be much tougher and more resilient than people give them credit for and out of season flowers can be a real delight, although they are often smaller and different in appearance because of the harsh conditions.  "Summer Passion" is described as a floribunda in style, the flowers large and pink with apricot centres and some scent.  The registered name is MARquizzical.  I look forward to the first flowering of spring and will be sure to look for more "Summer Passion"!

Calm evening colours

n Wellington the wind direction has a major impact on how the day will be.  Southerlies - cold, fresh.  Northerlies - warmer, fractious.  In between winds - calm, the light often clear and sparkling.  Yesterday was a settled day and the evening was calm and soft.  A pink sunset coloured the water and the scattered clouds, making pink and purple stripes.

Looking across Island Bay to Baring Head, the light fading.  The stripe at the horizon is the last light of the setting sun - the west is to the right of the photo.   Out to sea, it is even more peaceful and soft.

A magical hazy shimmer, as the evening closes in.

Lyall Bay after the storm - sand loss, seaweeds (and a sheltie)

Lyall Bay beach is long, and one end is a walking area for dogs off leash - usually a sociable exercise area for humans and dogs alike.  But after the recent severe storm, big changes...  

Severely eroded sand dunes with pingao - golden sedge - dangling unsupported where it had been growing on the pre-storm dunes.  The usual steps down onto the beach, now piles of boards flat on the sand, showing how far the dunes used to extend.  The old weathered steps that we used to get onto the beach had been completely covered by the sand - I had no idea they were there.

But this was not the only change. 

Alfie the shetland sheepdog was curious - what's this?

Mounds and mounds of beached seaweeds (as well as some sponges - I even saw sea cucumbers and a sea horse.)  The turbulence of the water during the storm must have dislodged masses of seaweeds which were subsequently washed up on the beach - like a fallen forest.

Alfie found a great deal to explore and sniff.  He is a middle sized dog, so you get some idea of the size and extent of the dying seaweed.

Hundreds of plants that we usually don't see - a reminder of the abundance of life under the sea.