Research Notes The Occurrence of Sarcochilus adversus (Hook.f.) in the Waikato Basin.

Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand, Volume 82, 1954-55, Page 611

Research Notes The Occurrence of Sarcochilus adversus (Hook.f.) in the Waikato Basin. By M. C. Gudex, M. A., M.Sc. Hamilton High School, Hamilton. [Read before the Auckland Institute, October 21, 1953. received by the Editor, November 23, 1953.] This epiphytic orchid is found in most parts of the Waikato Basin. Usually it occurs on the edge of the bush, where there is plenty of light and the an is able to criculate rather freely. In the bush on the flats it grows mostly on kahikatea, pokaka, titoki, hinau and mahoe. At higher levels it occurs on more kinds of trees, and in great numbers. Sometimes one tree carries over fifty plants plainly visible from the ground. At Te Aroha North five plants on one tree carried over thirty-five fruits. At Old's Road, near Taupiri, Sarcochilus occurs in abundance on Olearia furfuracea, Olearia rani, Weinmannia racemosa and Knightia excelsa. One plant found on a recently felled tree at Pirongia must have been growing at a height of 75 feet from the ground. In two localities, Pirongia and Karamu, plants with unusually long and thin fruits were found, the leaves were reddish, but healthy. After seven years of careful observation, I must conclude that Sarcochilus adversus is more common in the Waikato than in the fifty localities that I have examined in various parts of New Zealand. Hosts of Sarcochilus adversus Podocarpus dacrydiodes A. Rich. Dacrydium cupressinum Solander ex Forst. f. Phyllocladus trichomanoides D. Don. Macropiper excelsum Miq. Paratrophis microphylla (Raoul) Cockayne. Knightia excelsa R. Br. Laureha novaezelandiae A. Cunn. Beilschmiedia tawa (A. Cunn.) Benth. et Hook. f. Litsaea calicaris Benth.et Hook f. Quintinia serrata A. Cunn. Pittosporum eugenioides A. Cunn. Alectryon excelsum Gaertn. Weinmannia racemosa Linn. f. Dysoxylum spectabile Hook f. Corynocarpus laevigata Forst. Elaeocarpus dentatus Vahl. E. hookerinus Raoul. Hoheria populnea A. Cunn. Melicytus ramiflorus Forst. J.R et G. Leptospermum scoparmm Forst. J. R. et G. Nothopanax arboreum (Linn. f.) Seem.

Pseudopanax crassifolium (Sol.) C. Koch. Leucopogon fasciculatus (Forst. f.) A. Rich. Suttonia australis A. Rich. Coprosma australis (A. Rich.) Robinson. Olearia furfuracea Hook. f. O. rani (A. Cunn.) Druce and four exotic plants: Prunus cerasus L. Fraxinus excelsior L. Ligustrum ovalifolium Hassk. Quercus robur L.