Caladenia orestes

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Caladenia orestes
Caladenia orestes.jpg
Caladenia orestes growing near Brindabella
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Order: Asparagales
Family: Orchidaceae
Subfamily: Orchidoideae
Tribe: Diurideae
Genus: Caladenia
Species:
C. orestes
Binomial name
Caladenia orestes
Synonyms [1]

Arachnorchis orestes D.L.Jones

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.

Contents

Description

Caladenia orestes is a terrestrial, perennial, deciduous, herb with a spherical underground tuber and a single linear to lance-shaped leaf, 60–110 mm (2–4 in) long and 6–10 mm (0.2–0.4 in) wide with a reddish to purplish base. One or two cream coloured to pink or reddish flowers are borne on a flowering stem 200–350 mm (8–10 in) tall. The dorsal sepals is 40–50 mm (1.6–2.0 in) long, about 3 mm (0.1 in) wide, narrow egg-shaped to elliptic near its base then tapers to a blackish glandular tip. The lateral sepals are 40–60 mm (1.6–2.4 in) long, 3–4 mm (0.1–0.2 in) wide, lance-shaped to egg-shaped near the base then taper to blackish glandular tips. The petals are 35–45 mm (1–2 in) long, about 2–3 mm (0.08–0.1 in) wide and otherwise similar to the sepals. The lateral sepals and petals spread widely, turn down slightly or droop. The labellum is 14–17 mm (0.6–0.7 in) long, 8–11 mm (0.3–0.4 in) wide and curves forward with its tip strongly curving downwards. There are between 7 and 14 pairs of dark purplish, linear teeth up to 1.2 mm (0.05 in) long on the sides of the labellum and four or six rows of calli along the mid-line of the labellum, the longest of which are about 1.5 mm (0.06 in) long and shaped like hockey sticks. Flowering occurs during October and in early November. [2]

Taxonomy and naming

Caladenia orestes was first formally described in 2006 by David Jones who gave it the name Arachnorchis orestes. The specimen was collected near Burrinjuck village and the description was published in Australian Orchid Research. [3] In 2010 Gary Backhouse changed the name to Caladenia orestes and published the change in The Victorian Naturalist. [1] The specific epithet (orestes) is an Ancient Greek word meaning "mountaineer" [4] referring to the steep mountain slopes where this species grows. [2]

Distribution and habitat

This spider orchid grows with grasses or shrubs in forest on steep hillsides around Burrinjuck in the south-west slopes region of New South Wales. [2] [5]

Related Research Articles

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<i>Caladenia ampla</i>

Caladenia ampla, commonly known as the dainty 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 flower which is sometimes yellowish-green flower with red stripes and sometimes entirely red.

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 caudata, commonly known as tailed 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 up to four red, or yellow and red flowers with dark red to almost black tips.

Caladenia cremna, commonly known as Don's 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 hairy leaf and a single yellow flower with red striations.

<i>Caladenia echidnachila</i>

Caladenia echidnachila, commonly known as the fawn 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 one or two fawn-coloured flowers with thin red lines on the sepals and petals.

Caladenia flaccida, commonly known as the flaccid spider orchid, is a plant in the orchid family Orchidaceae and is endemic to eastern Australia. It is a ground orchid with a single hairy leaf and up to three cream-coloured, pinkish or red flowers with long, thread-like, glandular tips on the sepals and petals.

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 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 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 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 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.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Caladenia orestes" . Retrieved 7 April 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 Jones, David L. (2006). "New taxa of Australian Orchidaceae". Australian Orchid Research. 5: 48–49.
  3. "Arachnorchis orestes" . Retrieved 7 April 2017.
  4. Brown, Roland Wilbur (1956). The Composition of Scientific Words. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press. p. 577.
  5. "Caladenia orestes". Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney: plantnet. Retrieved 7 April 2017.