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Taken at Cannibal Hill 19th May 2003
The genus Acianthus are fairly dull looking Victorian terrestrial
orchids. While they are not particularly colourful (being small,
brownish and very easily overlooked) they indicate why we are so
interested in our orchids. Most orchid books list 2 Victorian species,
caudatus and excertis. However, in 1991 excertis was divided into 2,
excertis and this one, pusillus. Then in 1999 a new species (collinus) was
identified at Wodonga. Acianthus means spikey petals. The Mount
Cannibal specimen is pusillus, the well-named Mosquito Orchid,
possibly the commonest Vic orchid. Acianthus attract pollinating
insects by odour and offer a nectar reward.
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Taken at Cannibal Hill, 7th May 2003
This is one of our more common orchids, to be found throughout South Eastern Vic. It is also rarely noticed as it is small and dull in colour. The one pictured is from a small colony at our local Mt Cannibal reserve with the unusual and attractive purple vein pattern on the leaf. Most leaves are a plain green above and all are purple below. This group did not re-appear last year and I will be keen to see if it returns soon. The pic is an attempt to add an effective insert of a close-up of the flower.
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