Caladenia fuliginosa facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Caladenia fuliginosa |
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Scientific classification  |
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| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Monocots |
| Order: | Asparagales |
| Family: | Orchidaceae |
| Subfamily: | Orchidoideae |
| Tribe: | Diurideae |
| Genus: | Caladenia |
| Species: |
C. fuliginosa
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| Binomial name | |
| Caladenia fuliginosa (D.L.Jones) R.J.Bates
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| Synonyms | |
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Arachnorchis fuliginosa D.L.Jones |
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Caladenia fuliginosa is a special type of orchid that grows in the ground. It's found only in the Yorke Peninsula area of South Australia. This unique plant has a single hairy leaf and one large, creamy-yellow flower. Sometimes, the flower has reddish lines. Interestingly, these flowers smell a bit like hot metal!
What Does It Look Like?
Caladenia fuliginosa is a plant that grows from an underground tuber (like a small potato). It's a perennial plant, meaning it lives for more than two years. Each year, its leaves fall off, but it grows back.
- Leaf: It has one dull green leaf that is shaped like a narrow spear. It's about 6 to 12 centimeters (2.4 to 4.7 inches) long and 0.5 to 1 centimeter (0.2 to 0.4 inches) wide. You might see purple spots near the bottom of the leaf.
- Hairs: Both the leaf and the flower stem are covered in tiny, clear hairs. These hairs can be up to 1 millimeter (0.04 inches) long.
- Flower: A single creamy-yellow flower grows on a thin, strong stem. This stem is usually 15 to 35 centimeters (5.9 to 13.8 inches) tall. The flower itself is quite big, about 8 to 10 centimeters (3.1 to 3.9 inches) wide. It has that unique hot metal smell.
- Petals and Sepals: The petals and sepals (which look like petals) have thick, blackish tips. The top sepal is about 4 to 7 centimeters (1.6 to 2.8 inches) long. The side sepals are also long, about 4 to 7 centimeters (1.6 to 2.8 inches). The petals are a bit shorter, about 3.7 to 6.3 centimeters (1.5 to 2.5 inches) long. All of them narrow down to those dark, glandular tips.
- Labellum: The labellum is a special lip-like part of the orchid flower. On this orchid, it's shaped like a spear or an egg. It's about 1.6 to 2 centimeters (0.6 to 0.8 inches) long. Its edges have 7 to 10 pairs of small, thin teeth. The very tip of the labellum curls downwards.
- Calli: Along the middle of the labellum, there are six rows of purplish bumps called calli. Some of these calli are on stalks and look like tiny hockey sticks!
- Flowering Time: You can see these orchids flowering in late August and September.
How It Got Its Name
The Caladenia fuliginosa orchid was first officially described in 2006. A botanist named David Jones gave it the name Arachnorchis fuliginosa. He wrote about it in a scientific book called Australian Orchid Research. He found a sample of the plant near Corny Point.
Later, in 2008, another botanist named Robert Bates changed its name to Caladenia fuliginosa. The second part of its name, fuliginosa, comes from a Latin word. It means "sooty." This name was chosen because of the blackish tips on the sepals and petals of the flower, which look a bit like they've been covered in soot.
Where It Lives
This special spider orchid is only found in the southern part of the Flinders Ranges in South Australia. It likes to grow among rocks in forests that are on slopes.
