Firstly, an apology to those using dial-up. The following fieldtrip occurred over the past weekend and of the 400+ photos that were taken, I was only able to knock the total down to around 80. It may take awhile to get through these if you have a slow connection. This is by far the longest post I have ever and will ever make.
Anyway, Last Friday a small group of VCPS members visited an area located in western Victoria, probably the best area to see native CPs in south eastern Australia. We left early that morning and spent 3 full days searching for CPs and native orchids- we found plenty of each.
The area is a mountainous area of granite and sandstone and arises from a flat plain. It is a National Park known as "Gariwerd", formerly known as the Grampians National Park. I had visited the area countless times during the past 25 years but this year was special. A massive bushfire had burnt out around half of the 170,000 hectares. This would allow easy access to previously inaccessible areas as well as result in the flowering of species that I had never before seen.
For those interested, here's a link with a little more info on the area-
http://www.parkweb.vic.gov.au/1park_display.cfm?park=109
The main objective was to find populations of Drosera binata which are supposed to occur around watercourses. I had never managed to find the species in any of my visits and I was hoping that my luck would change on this occasion.
Now to the photos.
Our first stop was at a small stream that winded along one of the main roads. I'd checked it out many years prior, but had found nothing. It didn't take long before we had found our first Drosera, and it was D. binata! Also found in this area was D. spatulata, auriculata, pygmaea, whittakerii ssp. aberrans, peltata var. gracilis & Utricularia dichotoma.
A few shots of the habitat-
Me walking through the burnt out area-
Carpets of Drosera binata growing in semi-shade-
by a stream-
Anyway, Last Friday a small group of VCPS members visited an area located in western Victoria, probably the best area to see native CPs in south eastern Australia. We left early that morning and spent 3 full days searching for CPs and native orchids- we found plenty of each.
The area is a mountainous area of granite and sandstone and arises from a flat plain. It is a National Park known as "Gariwerd", formerly known as the Grampians National Park. I had visited the area countless times during the past 25 years but this year was special. A massive bushfire had burnt out around half of the 170,000 hectares. This would allow easy access to previously inaccessible areas as well as result in the flowering of species that I had never before seen.
For those interested, here's a link with a little more info on the area-
http://www.parkweb.vic.gov.au/1park_display.cfm?park=109
The main objective was to find populations of Drosera binata which are supposed to occur around watercourses. I had never managed to find the species in any of my visits and I was hoping that my luck would change on this occasion.
Now to the photos.
Our first stop was at a small stream that winded along one of the main roads. I'd checked it out many years prior, but had found nothing. It didn't take long before we had found our first Drosera, and it was D. binata! Also found in this area was D. spatulata, auriculata, pygmaea, whittakerii ssp. aberrans, peltata var. gracilis & Utricularia dichotoma.
A few shots of the habitat-
Me walking through the burnt out area-
Carpets of Drosera binata growing in semi-shade-
by a stream-