It was a very pleasant spring morning when 22 of our members and friends gathered at Aireys Inlet keen to take part in our Wildflower Walk. After greeting each other, we drove up Gilbert St to the top entrance of the Great Otway National Park, north of Aireys Inlet.
Having parked cars and sprayed our shoes to help protect the heathy woodland area from Cinnamon Fungus, Margaret distributed plant lists for the area which had been compiled in April and September this year, following a controlled burn in March 2023. It has been a great flora recovery with good rainfall following the burn and enabling the plants to resprout, or new seedlings to appear.
The sun was shining but the weather was not hot or humid enough to encourage sun orchids to open or the Blunt Everlasting to open widely as had been the case when Kaye and Margaret checked the walk site on October 17, when the flowers were just brilliant. However the area was still spectacular with bright yellow flowers of both Silky and Erect Guinea-flowers and the stunning orange flowers of the Dwarf Bush-pea intermingling with the varied vegetation.
People just wandered along the track taking pleasure in marking off the plants from their checklist and often using the new edition of the flower book to confirm records. We thank those members who shared their knowledge so freely with our less experienced plant observers.
With sharp eyes of our walkers we managed to increase our comprehensive plant by 11 new records:- spent flowers of Mosquito Orchids and Unicorn Bearded Greenhoods, Spear-grass sp., Chocolate Lily, Common Onion Orchid, Short Sun Orchid (buds only), Fringed Brachyloma, Small St John’s Wort, and perhaps the highlights of the delicate flowers of the Twining Fringe Lily and a Leek Orchid that was just starting to open
We made our way to the top of the ridge – just a very short walk – where we made ourselves comfortable to enjoy our morning tea with a great view over the Otways.
We then strolled back to the cars still finding interesting plants -it was on the return that we discovered the Leek Orchid which people were keen to photograph.
Our one disappointment for the day was the discovery of one specimen of the unwelcome South African Orchid Disa bracteata growing on the side of the track. It was quickly removed and taken away for disposal. It is obvious that we need to monitor the area in case more of these weed orchids should appear.
We always look forward to the spring Wildflower Walk in our yearly activities and the walk this year proved to be a great success with everyone joining in and enjoying the wildflower discovery challenge.
Marg MacDonald/Kaye Traynor
Photography: Kaye Traynor/Lesley Cadzow