Threatened Orchid Conservation
Oaklands Donkey Orchid (Diuris callitrophila)
The Oaklands Donkey Orchid or Oaklands Diuris (Diuris callitrophila) is listed as Endangered in NSW.
The Oaklands Donkey Orchid occurs in open grassy woodlands, usually in light sandy soils, particularly those dominated by White Cypress Pine (Callitris glaucophylla). The species was recently believed to be restricted to three sites between Oaklands and Urana in southern New South Wales. Three other small populations in that area have become extinct in recent times. The Oaklands Donkey Orchid flowers in November, although flowering may not occur every year. It has up to nine white and purple flowers per flower stem, which are slightly to strongly fragrant. The key pollinator of the Oaklands Donkey Orchid is a blue-banded bee (Amegilla sp.).
Species profile - Oaklands Diuris - NSW Government Office of Environment and Heritage
Orchid in a Teacup
To celebrate and raise awareness of the orchid, and improve the streetscape for locals and travellers alike, the Oaklands Country Women's Association commissioned a sculpture of Oaklands Donkey Orchid in a teacup. The sculpture stands at approximately 1.5 metres tall.
The sculpture was a true community effort, collectively contributing to the sculpture’s design, fabrication, painting and installation. The sculpture was unveiled in 2012.
The sculpture can be found on the corner of Milthorpe and Coreen Streets, Oaklands, NSW.
Endangered orchid reintroductions at Urana & Oaklands
The Wild Orchid Project
The Wild Orchids Project is a joint effort by the Local Land Services and Saving our Species program and funded by the NSW Environmental Trust and Saving our Species program, in partnership with Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria, Forestry Corporation NSW, NSW Crown Lands, NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service, the Australian Network for Plant Conservation, Local Government, Parklands Albury Wodonga and landholders.
More than six thousand native orchids have been planted across the NSW Murray region as part of Australia’s largest orchid translocation project, saving these species from extinction.
Volunteers from Corowa District Landcare, the Australasian Native Orchid Society - Vic branch, and Parklands Albury Wodonga, along with staff from Local Land Services and Saving our Species ecologists, assisted in the plantings in the Urana and Oaklands region. Annual monitoring of the orchids at planting sites is now in place.
For more information on the Wild Orchid Project go to - Murray Local Land Services - Wild Orchid Project
