Greetings fellow Foxies,
This issue is devoted to Foxes Lair triggerplants that mostly flower in October, and which have a fascinating method of pollination.
The male (anther) and female (pistil) parts occur side by side on a spring loaded strap called the trigger.
When an insect lands in the right place in the flower the trigger springs down on its back depositing pollen on its back and pollinating the pistil with pollen from another plant. Images below show the stages in our largest triggerplant Stylidium schoenoides or ‘Cowkick’ (mean plant!).
But being beaten up is not the only problem for insects. Apparently many triggerplants have sticky flower undersides that like sundews, trap insects to provide nutrients for the plants.
For more information see this site.
Triggerplant species in Foxes Lair are in this pdf

Stylidium amoenum Lilac Triggerplant) is worth seeing on the Banksia Walk near the water tank, as are the delicate spreading Stylidium pingrupensis plants on the Valley Walk that are one of the last flowers left after spring.
Look closely and you will see that they are micro stilt plants that have raised crowns to protect them from the hot ground. a real oddity is the attractive purplish pink Stylidium leptophyllum Needle-leaved triggerplants as there is only one plant in Foxes Lair on the right opposite the mallees as you enter from Williams Road. Watch for pink tape.

Greetings fellow Foxies,
                                      It is a great year for sun orchids. Today I found a group of at least 15 Scented Sun Orchids in a group under the green Foxes Lair sign opposite the cemetery.
Sun orchids differ from other orchids in having conventionally shaped petals and sepals but the column that contains the anthers and stigma is highly modified and adorned with wings and glands that probably attract pollinating insects. Thelymitra is derived from Greek words for ‘woman’s hood’. Lyn Alcock mentioned that the sun orchid flowers have not been lasting as long as usual this year, possibly due to lots of native pollinating insects. Be quick and select a fine day if you want to see the flowers.
Random fact: the word orchid is derived from Greek orchis, as orchids have twin tubers that resemble a pair of testicles. (Yes, orchids are for men too!)
The tubers enable orchids to survive from year to year, so they do not have to flower every year.
Orchids depend on mycorrhizal fungi to supply them with extra minerals and moisture, and will not survive if replanted.

The Lemon Scented Sun Orchid (Thelymitra antennifera) occurs on winter wet soils associated with granite. The lovely Leopard Orchid Thelymitra benthamiana will flower on the clay flats near the Claypit in a few weeks.

​Greetings fellow Foxies,
I decided to whip up a quick article on sundews but then researched them. Oh glory!  So much to learn and so little time to do it. Why are we humans so intelligent and yet so stupid as we obsess about minor things and harm ourselves and our environment when there is so much more to our world?
The genus name Drosera comes from the Greek word “dewy” referring to modified leaves with sticky tentacles they use to catch insects. When an insect lands on them, tentacles rapidly wrap around it and exude an amazing brew of enzymes that turns them into soup – even the hard exoskeleton (chitin is a protein). Yum!
Sundews have conventional flowers with numerous styles (pollen collecting bits), and have the flowers well above the leaves (possibly to avoid insect pollinators being eaten). Vegetation colour varies with much redder forms on waterlogged and infertile soils, and parts more exposed to light

​Local categories are below (hope I’m right)
1 Sundews with bulbs. The bulb enables them to survive over summer, use  early season soil water and nutrients, and can survive without catching insects. Subcategories include:
 
1a Climbers. These are the most noticeable ones that generally use other plants as support. The Bridal Rainbow  Drosera macrantha occurs throughout Foxes Lair, but in more open country elsewhere you mainly see the lovely Sunny Rainbow Drosera subhirtella. Cup shaped leaf blades directly absorb the insect soup. THe lovely red flowered Drosera menziesii occurrs in wet hollows and waterways.

​1c Rosette-forming sundews have flat leaves coated with tendrils. The name Red Ink Sundew of Drosera erythrorhiza refers to red sap in the bulb. Occuring on the claypit flats and fertile duplex soils, it sends up a flowering head after rain in April that dies off as the attractive leaves emerge. The leaves don’t absorb the insect soup that runs off to be absorbed by roots.
A few Red-leaved Sundew Drosera bulbosa plants occur on the southern side of the Claypit.
The spectacular Painted Sundew Drosera zonaria is found on very sandy soils and only flowers after fire. None of these occur at Foxes Lair but lovely clumps occur at Yilliminning Rock and Toolibin cemetery.

1b Fan-leaved sundews resemble free standing climbers but are more compact and have a basal rows of leaves. These don’t occur in Foxes lair but local species are Drosera porrecta and Drosera ramulosa.

2 Pygmy sundews are seldom noticed in Foxes Lair but are very common if you know where to look. . Despite their tiny size they are amazingly tough and can live for several years. Silvery papery scales on their growing point enables pygmy sundews to withstand soil temperatures up to 60 degrees centigrade. They also reproduce asexually by developing minute egg-like clones called gemmae (not shown) on their growing point early in the season that shed to form new plants.
Water gaining patches in the clay soil north of the Claypit are red with a carpet of Cone Sundews (Drosera androsaceae). These have lost the ability to use nitrogen taken up by their roots and rely entirely on insect soup for this nutrient.
Shaggy Sundew Drosera Scorpioides prefers moist bare gravelly areas in Foxes lair, and the beautiful orange-flowered Pimpernel Sundew Drosera glandigulera prefers more fertile soil from fresh rock.

There is a worldwide interest in growing these hungry little beauties with whole websites devoted to their care.

Please read this great sundew blog by the Wandering Scientist