Summer spider orchid
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Order: Asparagales
Family: Orchidaceae
Subfamily: Orchidoideae
Tribe: Diurideae
Genus: Caladenia
Species:
C. helvina
Binomial name
Caladenia helvina
Synonyms[1]

Arachnorchis helvina (D.L.Jones) D.L.Jones & M.A.Clem.

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.

Description

Caladenia helvina is a terrestrial, perennial, deciduous, herb with an underground tuber and a single, linear to lance-shaped, dull green, densely hairy leaf 100–160 mm (4–6 in) long and 5–20 mm (0.2–0.8 in) wide. Usually only a single greenish-yellow to pale yellow flower is borne on a thin, wiry, hairy spike 200–500 mm (8–20 in) tall. The sepals and petals are linear in shape near their base but suddenly taper after about one-third of their length to a narrow, thread-like glandular tail. The dorsal sepal is 55–85 mm (2–3 in) long, 3–4 mm (0.1–0.2 in) wide near the base and curves forward. The lateral sepals are a similar size and shape to the dorsal sepal and the petals are slightly shorter and narrower. The labellum is egg-shaped to heart-shaped, about 15–19 mm (0.6–0.7 in) long and 8–10 mm (0.3–0.4 in) wide and is greenish-yellow or dull yellow. The tip of the labellum curls under and there are thin yellow or reddish-purple teeth up to 2 mm (0.08 in) long on the sides of the labellum, and four or six rows of yellowish or purplish, golf club-shaped calli along its mid-line, decreasing in size towards the tip. Flowering occurs from December to January.[2][3]

Taxonomy and naming

Caladenia helvina was first formally described by David Jones in 1991 and the description was published in Australian Orchid Research.[1] The specific epithet (helvina) is a Latin word meaning "yellowish" or "pale yellow",[4] referring to the colour of the flowers of this orchid.[3]

Distribution and habitat

Summer spider orchid is widespread in Tasmania where it grows in forest in shallow, sometimes stony soil.[5]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Caladenia helvina". APNI. Retrieved 10 February 2017.
  2. ↑ Jones, David L. (1991). "New taxa of Australian Orchidaceae". Australian Orchid Research. 2: 26–27.
  3. 1 2 Jones, David L. (2006). A complete guide to native orchids of Australia including the island territories. Frenchs Forest, N.S.W.: New Holland. p. 56. ISBN 1877069124.
  4. ↑ Brown, Roland Wilbur (1956). The Composition of Scientific Words. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press. p. 872.
  5. ↑ Jones, David L. (1998). "A taxonomic review of Caladenia in Tasmania". Australian Orchid Research. 3 (2): 33.
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