THE delicate Wyong sun orchid (Thelymitra adorata) may be small, but keeping it alive involves much more than placing a seed into soil and waiting for it to grow.
Led by Paul Shearston, volunteers at the Hunter Region Botanic Gardens are working with the NSW Government’s Saving our Species program and the Botanic Gardens of Sydney to protect the endangered native orchid and learn what it needs to survive.
Volunteer Peter Dowling explained that orchids have an important relationship with fungi in the soil, known as mycorrhizal fungi.
Unlike many other plants, an orchid seed does not carry enough nutrients to germinate on its own.
“They actually require the fungi, or the mycorrhizae, to germinate the seed,” Mr Dowling said.
“Some orchids need specific fungi; they won’t grow without it.”
This very particular relationship is one of the reasons conserving native orchids can be so difficult.
During the repotting process, the team introduces fungi to the roots, helping to create ideal conditions for the Wyong sun orchid.
The plants are also expected to play a part in a future conservation project involving detection dogs.
The plan is for the dogs to learn the scent associated with the orchid’s fungi. This could eventually help conservation teams locate orchids in the wild, including when the plants are not flowering or are difficult to spot.
Mr Dowling said the gardens’ role was to prepare the plants and fungi needed for the future training program.
The Wyong sun orchid also has an interesting seasonal cycle. After flowering, it dies back and transfers its nutrients into a new tuber under the ground.
“By November, all the greenery will disappear,” Mr Dowling said.
“They transfer all the nutrients to the new tuber, like a little potato.”
Although there may be nothing visible above the soil, the orchid remains alive underground until it is ready to emerge again.
Last year, the project produced 19 pots, each containing between six and 10 orchid plants.
For the volunteers working quietly behind the scenes at the Hunter Region Botanic Gardens, protecting this tiny orchid takes patience, careful observation and a little help from an equally tiny fungus.
By Althea GUINSBERG
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