Orchids of the Melville Range

Author: Stuart Worboys, Cairns Branch

Published: Journal September 2020

Images: Aerial view of the Melville Range’s rugged western fall 

Late last year, I was invited to join a group of biologists on a wildlife survey in remote Cape Melville National Park, 320km northnorthwest of Cairns. The expedition was instigated by Emeritus Professor Roger Kitching of Griffith University, and with the support of National Parks and Traditional Owners, it took a diverse group of zoologists and natural historians to the remote Melville Range on south east Cape York. Our exploration was sponsored and filmed by the Japanese public television broadcaster, NHK.

The Melville Range is small, covering roughly 100 square kilometres but with barely 1,700ha of that area rising above 400m elevation. The highest peaks rise to around 600m. Although not particularly high, it is enough to trap moisture-bearing winds blowing from the Coral Sea, and it is estimated to receive 1,800mm of rain each year.

Much of the landscape is a boulderfield of enormous granite tors. And yet, at its heart is a stretch of rainforest full of palms, hidden streams and mysterious endemic reptiles. On ridges and peaks, elegant hoop pines rise above the rainforest canopy, their outstretched branches raking moisture from the passing clouds. The constant drip-drip-drip maintains a damp habitat in their vicinity even when the clouds have not released their rain.

Although focussing on birds, reptiles and invertebrates, several of the expedition’s participants harboured a secret passion – orchids! We were fortunate to be joined by Lewis Roberts OAM, an orchid expert and dedicated and energetic field naturalist (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Lewis_Roberts_(naturalist). With so many pairs of eyes on the hunt for orchids, we made several new and unexpected discoveries.

The following discussion reports all orchid records from the Cape Melville National Park, with a focus on the Melville Range including its foothills. The records include not just those from the November 2019 expedition, but also observations made by Lewis Roberts and David Baume (September 2018), and scientific collections made by Conrad Hoskin and Harry Hines (December 2013) and others.

Members of the Japanese film crew exploring the boulderfield on top of the Melville Range

Bulbophyllum baileyi
This species, the largest of Australia’s Bulbophyllums, is widespread on the east coast from the Torres Strait to Cardwell. It was first recorded by Conrad Hoskin on the Melville Range in 2013, and collected during the 2019 expedition.

Bulbophyllum newportii
Found in the Eungella Ranges west of Mackay, and widespread in the Wet Tropics. Recorded from the Melville Range once by Conrad Hoskin and Harry Hines in 2013 – the northernmost record for the species, and the first for the Cape York bioregion.

Cadetia taylori
Now known to be a Dendrobium, this modest and pretty orchid has been collected in mountain rainforests from the Iron Range to Tully. It was collected on the Melville Range during the 2019 expedition and by Hoskin and Hines in 2013.

Cheirostylis ovata
The Banded Fleshy Jewel Orchid is a ground orchid known to occur from east coast rainforests from NSW to the Iron Range. This was recorded by Lewis Roberts and David Baume during their 2018 trip to the Melville Range: the first time it had been seen in the area.

Cymbidium madidum
A common and familiar orchid that occurs from NSW to the Iron Range. Although we saw this on the Melville Range during the 2019 expedition, we didn’t collect it – a shame as it had not been previously recorded.

Dendrobium bigibbum
The legendary Cooktown Orchid was not seen in 2019, but was observed by Roberts and Baume the previous year.

Dendrobium canaliculatum
The common and very pretty Brown Tea Tree Orchid should be present in the lowlands around the Melville Range, although it was not recorded on our expedition.

Dendrobium discolor
Possibly Australia’s biggest orchid (more on that later), the Golden Orchid was observed in lowland vine thickets on the boulderfields in 2019.

Dendrobium jonesii
The Oak Orchid is common in mountain rainforests from the Iron Range to the Paluma Range. Although previously observed, in 2019 we made the first scientific collection from the Melville Range.

Dendrobium semifuscum
Another of the Tea Tree Orchids, this fragrant species was first observed by Roberts and Baume.

Dendrobium smillieae
One of the tropics’ most spectacular flowers, the Bottlebrush Orchid was first observed on the Melville Range by Roberts and Baume.

Dendrobium speciosum
The widespread and well-known King Orchid occurs as far south as Victoria. It was first collected on the Melville Range by Hoskin and Hines in 2013. The collection represents a range extension of 200km for the species, and a first record of the species on Cape York. It was relatively common around rocky outcrops near our campsite.

Dendrobium teretifolium (syn. D. sulphurea)
A species of pencil orchid was observed by Roberts and Baume. The species could not be confirmed.

Dendrobium tetragonum
The distinctive and aptly named Spider Orchid occurs in rainforests from Kiama to the McIlwraith Range, with one old record from the Iron Range. In 2019, it was spotted growing low on rainforest tree trunks, but this was not the first time it was seen on the range. It had been collected back in 2013 by Hines and Hoskin.

Dendrobium trilamellatum
One of the rarer Tea Tree Orchids, it has been reported in the vicinity of the Melville Range, although not seen by our crew.

Dendrobium wassellii
During the 2019 expedition, Lewis Roberts returned from exploring one morning with a peculiar looking fleshy plant in his hands. He held it out for all to see, stating “This is Dendrobium wassellii, it used to be a McIlwraith Range endemic!” The ungainly looking Cucumber Orchid was indeed previously only known from the McIlwraith Range, a large granite massif about 120km away across Princess Charlotte Bay. An epiphytic species, it was still attached to the Hoop Pine branch that had fallen from high in the canopy.
The plant was returned alive to Cairns, and flowered in cultivation before being squished as a scientific specimen.

Pholidota imbricata
The Common Rattlesnake Orchid is widespread from Townsville northwards, across the top end and throughout tropical Asia. This unremarkable lithophyte was collected for the first time on the Melville Range in November 2019, where it was found in a boulder-lined creekline.

Plectorrhiza brevilabris
The aptly named Small Tangle Orchid grows as a loosely attached epiphyte. It always appears as an untidy mass of roots hanging in vegetation. It was reported by Roberts and Baume, but as yet there are no scientific collections for the Melville Range.

Podochilus australiensis (syn.Appendicula australiensis)
The Native Stream Orchid was reported by Roberts and Baume, but as yet there are no scientific collections for the Melville Range.

Pomatocalpa macphersonii
This small attractive orchid was collected as a flowering specimen during the 2019 expedition. It is a widespread epiphyte in rainforests north from Rockhampton, however this specimen was the first from the Melville Range.

Robiquetia gracilistipes
A robust orchid well known from Cape York and the Wet Tropics, the Large Pouched Orchid had previously been collected from the range by Hines and Hoskin. On the 2019 trip, it was found growing on boulders along a shaded creekline.

Taeniophyllum baumei
Taeniophyllums are a group of tiny leafless epiphytic orchids. This particular species was observed by Lewis Roberts and the orchid’s namesake, David Baume, on their 2018 trip. Their record is both a significant range extension for the species (previously only known from north of Coen), and the first for the Range.

Thrixspermum congestum
The Cupped Hairseed Orchid is an untidy epiphyte, recorded from the Northern Territory, Cape York but most common in the Wet Tropics. The collection made on the 2019 expedition was the first from the Melville Range, and the first record from between Cairns and Bamaga.

Trachoma
The Spectral Orchids are a small group of rather pretty epiphytes. The individual recorded by Roberts and Baume in September 2018 could not be identified to species.

Vanda hindsii
The Cape York Vanda vies with the Golden Orchid for the title of Australia’s biggest orchid. Although it doesn’t produce the massive long canes that are so distinctive of
Dendrobium discolor, it does produce a sprawling branched mass of stems that blanket their exposed bouldery habitat.
For nearly 30 years, there have been anecdotal reports of the Cape York Vanda on Cape Melville. When the species was officially listed as Vulnerable by the Commonwealth in 2012, it was commented, “It has been reported from Cape Melville [by Alick Dockrill in 1992], however, this extension of distribution is not supported by herbarium collections and thus can not be confirmed.”
More recently the species was one of the 21 observed by Baume and Roberts in 2018. However, the two specimens taken on the 2019 expedition were the first scientific collections of the species from the Melville Range, and represent the southernmost wild record of the genus anywhere in the world. One of the collections was held in cultivation and flowered in April 2020. It will be preserved in the collections of the Australian Tropical Herbarium and Queensland Herbarium.

Zeuxine oblonga
The Common Jewel Orchid is a widespread ground orchid. It was observed by Roberts and Baume in September 2018, the first record of the species in Cape Melville.

Orchid species recorded from the Melville Range:

Dendrobium smillieae, in woodlands near the Daintree River, August 2017

Lewis Roberts’ Cucumber Orchid flowered in cultivation, and herbarium specimens have been taken

Vanda hindsii growing as an epiphyte in a hoop pine, Melville Range

Vanda hindsii flowered in cultivation in Cairns. These flowers have been collected and now comprise part of the first formal scientific record of the species from the Melville Range