Caladenia ensigera | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Monocots |
Order: | Asparagales |
Family: | Orchidaceae |
Subfamily: | Orchidoideae |
Tribe: | Diurideae |
Genus: | Caladenia |
Species: | C. ensigera |
Binomial name | |
Caladenia ensigera | |
Synonyms [1] | |
Arachnorchis ensigera D.L.Jones |
Caladenia ensigera is a plant in the orchid family Orchidaceae and is endemic to South Australia. It is a ground orchid with a single leaf and one or two greenish cream to whitish green flowers and is only known from Alligator Gorge in the Mount Remarkable National Park.
Caladenia ensigera is a terrestrial, perennial, deciduous, herb with an underground tuber and a single, dull green, hairy, narrow lance-shaped leaf, 80–150 mm (3–6 in) long and 8–14 mm (0.3–0.6 in) wide with purple blotches near its base. The leaf and the flowering stem are densely covered with erect transparent hairs. One or two greenish cream to whitish green flowers 70–90 mm (3–4 in) wide are borne on a flowering stem 140–350 mm (6–10 in) tall. The sepals and petals spread stiffly and widely and have thick, flat, blackish, sword-like glandular tips. The dorsal sepal is 45–56 mm (1.8–2.2 in) long, about 4 mm (0.2 in) wide, oblong near the base then tapering to a glandular tip 24–30 mm (0.9–1 in) long and about 2 mm (0.08 in) wide. The lateral sepals are lance-shaped near their bases, 45–55 mm (1.8–2.2 in) long, about 4 mm (0.2 in) wide and taper to narrow glandular tips similar to that on the dorsal sepal. The petals are 32–45 mm (1–2 in) long, about 2 mm (0.08 in) wide, narrow lance-shaped near the base then ending in a glandular tip 13–27 mm (0.5–1 in), about 2 mm (0.08 in) wide and even more prominent than those on the sepals. The labellum is lance-shaped to egg-shaped, 13–16 mm (0.5–0.6 in) long, 8–11 mm (0.3–0.4 in) wide and has seven to nine pairs of widely spaced, linear teeth on the edges. The tip of the labellum curls downward and there are four or six rows of purplish-red, stalked calli up to 3 mm (0.1 in) long along the mid-line of the labellum. Flowering occurs in August and September. [2]
Caladenia ensigera was first formally described in 2006 by David Jones, who gave it the name Arachnorchis ensigera and published the description in Australian Orchid Research from a specimen collected in Alligator Gorge. [3] In 2008, Robert Bates changed the name to Caladenia ensigera. [4] [5] The specific epithet (ensigera) is derived from the Latin word ensiger meaning "sword-bearing", [6] referring to the bayonet-like tips of the sepals and petals. [2]
This spider orchid only occurs in Alligator Gorge in the Mount Remarkable National Park where it grows in woodland with a shrubby understorey. [2]
Caladenia ancylosa, commonly known as the Genoa spider orchid, is a plant in the orchid family Orchidaceae and is endemic to Victoria. It is a ground orchid with a single hairy leaf and a single cream-coloured flower with red markings.
Caladenia atroclavia, commonly known as the black-clubbed spider orchid, is a plant in the orchid family Orchidaceae and is endemic to south-eastern Queensland. It is a ground orchid with a single hairy leaf and a pale greenish-cream coloured flower with dark purple clubs and red patches on the petals.
Caladenia cretacea, commonly known as Stuart Mill spider orchid, is a plant in the orchid family Orchidaceae and is endemic to a small area in Victoria. It is a rare ground orchid with a single leaf and one or two white flowers on a hairy stalk.
Caladenia helvina, commonly known as the summer spider orchid, is a plant in the orchid family Orchidaceae and is endemic to Tasmania. It is a ground orchid with a single hairy leaf and usually a single greenish-yellow to pale yellow flower with reddish teeth on the sides of the labellum and reddish calli along its mid-line.
Caladenia leptochila subsp. dentata, commonly known as the toothed spider orchid, narrow-lipped spider-orchid or narrow-lipped caladenia, is a plant in the orchid family Orchidaceae and is endemic to South Australia. It has a single leaf and one or two mostly reddish-brown flowers. It differs from subspecies leptochila in the colour of its flowers, toothed edges to its labellum, and its distribution.
Caladenia oreophila is a plant in the orchid family Orchidaceae and is endemic to south-eastern Australia. It is a ground orchid with a single leaf and a single greenish-cream flower with pale red stripes a red labellum with a greenish-cream base.
Caladenia osmera is a plant in the orchid family Orchidaceae and is endemic to south-eastern Australia. It is a ground orchid with a single leaf and one or two greenish-cream flowers with pink stripes and which has a sharp odour resembling burnt plastic.
Caladenia peisleyi is a plant in the orchid family Orchidaceae and is endemic to south-eastern Australia. It is a ground orchid with a single leaf and a single greenish-yellow flower with pale red stripes. It is difficult to distinguish from several other Caladenia species.
Caladenia armata is a plant in the orchid family Orchidaceae and is endemic to the Australian Capital Territory. It has a single dull green leaf with purple blotches near the base, and a single cream-coloured to pink flower with red to maroon markings. It is only known from a single population containing fewer than ten plants.
Caladenia branwhitei, commonly known as the Bethungra spider orchid, is a plant in the orchid family Orchidaceae and is endemic to southern New South Wales. It has a single dull green leaf and one or two, usually dark red to maroon-coloured flowers. It is only known from three areas near Bethungra where it grows in ironbark forest.
Caladenia cadyi is a plant in the orchid family Orchidaceae and is endemic to the south coast of New South Wales. It has a single dull green leaf with purple blotches near the base, and a single greenish cream to cream flower with pink to reddish markings. It was only known from a single population which has been bulldozed and replaced with a pine plantation so that it is now probably extinct.
Caladenia douglasiorum is a plant in the orchid family Orchidaceae and is endemic to central Victoria in Australia. It is a ground orchid with a single hairy leaf and a single greenish-cream to yellowish flower with red marks.
Caladenia saxatilis is a plant in the orchid family Orchidaceae and is endemic to South Australia. It is a ground orchid with a single hairy leaf and one or two pale creamy-green flowers, sometimes with thin reddish lines. It occurs in the southern Flinders Ranges.
Caladenia whiteheadii is a plant in the orchid family Orchidaceae and is endemic to New South Wales. It is a ground orchid with a single hairy leaf and a single pale yellow flower with thick reddish tips on the sepals and petals. It is only known from a single hill near Eugowra.
Caladenia orestes is a plant in the orchid family Orchidaceae and is endemic to an area in the south of New South Wales. It is a ground orchid with a single leaf and one or two cream-coloured to light reddish flowers. It grows in forest on hillsides around Burrinjuck.
Caladenia flindersica is a plant in the orchid family Orchidaceae and is endemic to South Australia. It is a ground orchid with a single leaf and one or two cream-coloured flowers with thin dark red to blackish tips on the petals and sepals. It is only known from Alligator Gorge in the Mount Remarkable National Park.
Caladenia strigosa is a plant in the orchid family Orchidaceae and is endemic to South Australia. It is a ground orchid with a single leaf and a single greenish-cream flower with fine reddish streaks. It grows in sandy soil in shrubland.
Caladenia zephyra is a plant in the orchid family Orchidaceae and is endemic to South Australia. It is a ground orchid with a single, densely hairy leaf and a single cream-coloured to very pale yellow flower with blackish glandular hairs on the sepals and petals. It occurs on the Eyre Peninsula but may have a wider distribution.
Caladenia fuliginosa is a plant in the orchid family Orchidaceae and is endemic to the Yorke Peninsula in South Australia. It is a ground orchid with a single hairy leaf and a single relatively large, creamy-yellow flower, sometimes with reddish lines. The flowers have a smell resembling hot metal.
Caladenia intuta is a plant in the orchid family Orchidaceae and is endemic to two small areas on the Yorke Peninsula in South Australia. It is a ground orchid with a single hairy leaf and one or two white flowers which sometimes have faint reddish lines.