Caladenia dorrigoensis facts for kids

Caladenia dorrigoensis is a special kind of orchid plant. It belongs to the orchid family and is found only in New South Wales, Australia. This means it's endemic to that area. It has a single leaf and grows a beautiful white flower. This flower often has purple marks on its labellum, which is a special lip-like part of the orchid flower.

What it Looks Like

Caladenia dorrigoensis is a plant that grows on the ground. It is a perennial plant, meaning it lives for more than two years. It is also deciduous, so its leaves fall off at certain times of the year. This plant is a herb and has a tuber (a swollen underground stem) that stores food. It usually grows in small groups.

Each plant has one straight, narrow leaf. This leaf is about 60 to 120 millimeters (2.4 to 4.7 inches) long. It is also very thin, about 0.8 to 1.5 millimeters (0.03 to 0.06 inches) wide. The leaf is mostly smooth, or glabrous, meaning it has no hairs.

A single flower grows on a stem that is about 80 to 200 millimeters (3.1 to 7.9 inches) tall. The flower itself is about 12 to 18 millimeters (0.47 to 0.71 inches) wide. The front of the flower is mostly white. The back of the flower has small brownish or purplish glands.

The top petal, called the dorsal sepal, looks like a spoon. It is about 8 to 10 millimeters (0.31 to 0.39 inches) long and 3 millimeters (0.12 inches) wide. It forms a hood over the center part of the flower, called the column. The side petals, or lateral sepals, are similar in size but a bit narrower and curved. The other petals are about 7 to 10 millimeters (0.28 to 0.39 inches) long and 1.5 millimeters (0.06 inches) wide. They are also curved.

The labellum is the special lip of the orchid. It is egg-shaped and white with light purple lines. It has three clear lobes, or sections. The middle lobe is egg-shaped, about 5 to 6 millimeters (0.20 to 0.24 inches) long and 4 millimeters (0.16 inches) wide. The side lobes stand up and surround the column. The middle part of the labellum has six to eight short, purplish-black teeth on each side. The very tip of the labellum curves downwards. There are also two rows of dark purplish-black, stalked bumps called calli along the middle of the labellum. This orchid usually blooms in October.

How it Got its Name

Caladenia dorrigoensis was first officially described in 2016. It was described by two botanists, David Jones and Lachlan Copeland. They found a sample of this orchid in the Dorrigo National Park. The description was then published in a magazine called Australian Orchid Review.

The second part of its name, dorrigoensis, tells us where it comes from. It refers to the Dorrigo area. This is the only place where this special orchid seems to grow.

Where it Lives

This orchid is only found in a small area around the Dorrigo district in New South Wales. It grows in woodlands, which are like forests with lots of trees. These woodlands also have a layer of shrubs growing underneath the trees.