Caladenia armata facts for kids

Caladenia armata is a special type of orchid plant that grows only in the Australian Capital Territory. It's quite rare! This plant has a single dull green leaf with purple spots near its base. It also produces a single cream-colored to pink flower with red or maroon markings. This amazing orchid is known from only one small group of fewer than ten plants.

What Does It Look Like?

Caladenia armata is a plant that grows on land. It lives for many years and loses its leaves each year. This plant has an underground storage part called a tuber. It usually grows in small groups.

Leaves and Stems

Each plant has one dull green leaf with purple spots near its base. This leaf is about 60–90 mm (2–4 in) long and 4–8 mm (0.2–0.3 in) wide. It's covered with many tiny hairs, some up to 6 mm (0.2 in) long. A single flower grows on a thin, hairy, reddish stem. This stem can be 150–250 mm (6–10 in) tall.

Flowers

The flower itself is 20–30 mm (0.8–1 in) wide. It can be cream-colored or pink with red lines.

• The top petal-like part, called the dorsal sepal, is 23–35 mm (0.9–1 in) long. It narrows to a thick, bumpy tip that is 3–7 mm (0.1–0.3 in) long.
• The side petal-like parts, called lateral sepals, are similar to the top one but almost twice as wide.
• The other petals are 20–30 mm (0.8–1 in) long and 2–3 mm (0.08–0.1 in) wide.
• The special lip petal, called the labellum, is shaped like a spear or an egg. It's 8–11 mm (0.3–0.4 in) long and 5–8 mm (0.2–0.3 in) wide. It can be dark red, maroon, or green with a maroon tip. The labellum curves forward. It has five to twelve pairs of thin, dark purplish-red "teeth" along its sides. In the middle of the labellum, there are four rows of small bumps called calli. The longest of these bumps are 1.5 mm (0.06 in) long and look like hockey sticks. This orchid usually flowers in October.

How It Got Its Name

This orchid was first officially described in 2006 by a botanist named David L. Jones. He first named it Arachnorchis armata. He published its description in a scientific book called Australian Orchid Research. The plant was found on the Majura Field Firing Range. Later, in 2010, another botanist, Gary Backhouse, changed its name to Caladenia armata. The second part of its name, armata, comes from a Latin word meaning "furnished with weapons." This name refers to the place where it was first found.

Where It Lives

This rare spider orchid is only known from about ten individual plants. They grow in the Majura Field Firing Range. This area is an open forest with red stringybark trees (Eucalyptus macrorhyncha) and white gum trees (Eucalyptus rossii).