Acianthera laxa

This species has been recorded from several localities in the Blue Mountains, including the Cinchona area, John Crow Peak, and Portland Gap. Much of the natural habitat in the Blue Mountains below c. 1,600 m asl is disturbed, secondary forest, reflecting a long history of clearance for small scale shifting agriculture and coffee plantations, alongside large-scale planting of Caribbean pine. While commercial forestry has largely ceased since the 1980s due to the effects of Hurricane Gilbert, forest loss and fragmentation associated with subsistence farming and housing, shifting agriculture for cash crops, illegal selective logging, and coffee plantations continues (Headley 2003, Chai et al. 2009). These activities are occurring at increasingly higher elevations and on steeper slopes, particularly in the Cinchona area where this species has been recorded. Coffee farming is considered to be the main threat within the vicinity of Hollywell (K. Campbell pers. comm. 2024). Continued road construction into the interior region of the Blue Mountains is also likely to increase the rate of deforestation in previously inaccessible areas (Schipper 2024). Past clearance and subsequent regeneration of secondary forest has facilitated the spread of several invasive species in the Blue Mountains, including the Australian tree Pittosporum undulatum. The spread of P. undulatum accelerated after Hurricane Gilbert in 1988; it now comprises a dominant component of secondary forests in the Cinchona area and continues to invade longer-established forests. P. undulatum has even been observed along trails in primary forest at John Crow Peak (Grubb and Tanner 1976), another collecting locality for this species. Long term monitoring has shown that an increase in the dominance of P. undulatum in forest plots is associated with a decrease in diversity and richness of native tree species (Bellingham et al. 2018). The same study noted that epiphytes were absent from the trucks and branches of even large individuals of P. undulatum (Bellingham et al. 2018), indicating that this species may not act as a suitable host for the epiphytic A. laxa, further decreasing the quality of habitat for this species. The Portland Gap area is not yet severely impacted by P. undulatum or agricultural encroachment (D. Luke pers. comm. 2024), but it experiences high levels of largely unregulated tourism associated with camping and hiking to Blue Mountain Peak (Otuokon 2011). Habitat degradation associated with tourism is likely localized along trails but may facilitate the spread of invasive species.

All orchid species are included in Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). This species occurs in the Blue and John Crow Mountains National Park. It is not held in any ex situ conservation collections (BGCI 2024), although it may be cultivated by some specialist orchid growers.