Caladenia zephyra

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Caladenia zephyra
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. zephyra
Binomial name
Caladenia zephyra
Synonyms [1]

Arachnorchis zephyra D.L.Jones

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.

Contents

Description

Caladenia zephyra is a terrestrial, perennial, deciduous herb with a single densely hairy, narrow oblong to lance-shaped leaf 60–120 mm (2–5 in) long and 5–7 mm (0.2–0.3 in) wide. The leaf is dull green with a purple blotched base. A single cream-coloured to very pale yellow flower is borne on a densely hairy, wiry flowering stem 150–250 mm (6–10 in) tall. The dorsal sepal is erect, 45–60 mm (2–2 in) long and 2–3.5 mm (0.08–0.1 in) wide but suddenly tapers at about one-third of its length to a thread-like tail with blackish glandular hairs. The lateral sepals are 55–70 mm (2–3 in) long and 3–4.5 mm (0.1–0.2 in) wide but suddenly taper like the dorsal sepal to a glandular tip. The petals are 37–55 mm (1–2 in) long and 2–3 mm (0.08–0.1 in) wide and also taper to a thread-like, glandular tip. The labellum is egg-shaped to lance-shaped, 13–17 mm (0.5–0.7 in) long and 8–10 mm (0.3–0.4 in) wide and erect near its base before curving downwards. The side lobes of the labellum are erect, about 3 mm (0.1 in) wide with between seven and twelve thread like teeth about 2 mm (0.08 in) long on each side, each with a small egg-shaped tip. There are six rows of club-shaped, creamy yellow calli along the mid-line of the labellum. Flowering occurs in late August and September. [2]

Taxonomy and naming

This species was first formally described in 2006 by David Jones who gave it the name Arachnorchis zephyra. The type specimen was collected in the Carappee Hill Conservation Park and the description was published in Australian Orchid Research. [3] In 2008 Robert Bates changed the name to Caladenia zephyra and published the change in Journal of the Adelaide Botanic Garden . [4] The specific epithet (zephyra) is a Latin word meaning "west wind", [5] referring to the westerly distribution of the species compared to that of the related and similar C. arenaria . [2]

Distribution and habitat

Caladenia zephyra is only known from the Eyre Peninsula botanical region of South Australia where it grows in mixed Callitris - Allocasuarina woodland, but it may have a more extensive range. [2] [6]

Related Research Articles

<i>Caladenia ampla</i> Species of orchid

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.

<i>Caladenia clavescens</i> Species of orchid

Caladenia clavescens 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 usually a single dark red to maroon flower.

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.

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 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 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 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.

<i>Caladenia orestes</i> Species of plant

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 interanea, commonly known as the inland spider orchid, is a plant in the orchid family Orchidaceae and is endemic to the Eyre Peninsula in South Australia. It is a ground orchid with a single hairy leaf and a single green flower with dark red stripes.

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 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 "Caladenia zephyra". World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (WCSP). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
  2. 1 2 3 Jones, David L. (2006). "Miscellaneous new species of Australian Orchidaceae". Australian Orchid Research. 5: 65–66.
  3. "Arachnorchis zephyra". APNI. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
  4. "Caladenia zephyra". APNI. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
  5. Brown, Roland Wilbur (1956). The Composition of Scientific Words. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press. p. 858.
  6. "Census of South Australian Plants - Caladenia". State Herbarium of South Australia. Retrieved 16 April 2017.