A potato orchid

Last night I sprayed a friends block up Jackson's Hill Road for blackberries and on the way there I noticed a potato orchid (Gastrodia sesamoides) growing on the side of the road. This morning I popped up to photograph it. Being early in the morning the light was a bit challenging. This orchid is a great survivor as the habitat on the side of the road couldn't be more altered.  It was at the base of a pine tree with ivy and other weeds around.

Potato Orchids are special to me. When I was about eight or so, finding one whilst visiting the Torbreck Station homestead site is my first concious memory if seeing and identifying a wild orchid. Torbreck Station was a favourite place for us to visit as kids, I think because of the romance of this abandoned historical site.  We would find old leather boots and garden plants and other stuff just around the bush. One time when we visited in spring we dug up some campernelle daffodils which I still have.

Potato Orchids are also interesting in that they are saprophytic. This means they get their complete nutrition from dacaying plant matter as distinct from making their own through photosynthesis like most plants do. The evolutionary jump for this growth strategy from other orchids is interesting and worth finding out about.

New Years Day holiday in lieu temperature overnight min. 22 C max. 38 C sunny with strong northerly. Sprayed blackberries in the morning and went shopping with Simon (son) in the afternoon for computer parts and food. When driving along Ferntree Gully Road the temperature reading in the car was 42 C and had dropped 6 degrees by the time we were home. Living in the hills has some advantages when it is really hot.