Banded ironstone spider orchid facts for kids

The Caladenia saxicola, commonly known as the banded ironstone spider orchid, is a unique plant from the orchid family. It grows only in the south-west part of Western Australia, meaning it is endemic to that area. This special orchid has a single tall, hairy leaf and usually one or two creamy-white or pale yellow flowers. Its petals and sepals (which look like petals) spread out wide.

What Does This Orchid Look Like?

The banded ironstone spider orchid is a terrestrial plant, meaning it grows in the ground. It's also a perennial herb, which means it lives for more than two years and has soft stems. It has an underground tuber, like a small potato, that helps it store food. Sometimes you find just one plant, but often they grow in small groups.

Its single leaf is pale green, stands upright, and is hairy. It can be about 60 to 110 mm long and 3 to 6 mm wide. The plant usually has one or two flowers on a stem that grows 17 to 35 mm tall. These flowers are quite large, about 90 to 150 mm long and 80 to 140 mm wide. They are a dull creamy-white or pale yellow with dark red lines and spots.

The parts of the flower include:

• Sepals: The top sepal stands up straight and curves slightly forward. It's about 60 to 80 mm long. The two side sepals spread out wide and curve downwards. They are 70 to 90 mm long. All sepals start wide at the base, then suddenly become very thin and thread-like with a purplish-black tip. These tips are covered in tiny hairs.
• Petals: The petals are 40 to 80 mm long and spread out wide, usually curving gently upwards. Like the sepals, they also narrow into a thread-like tip.
• Labellum: This is the orchid's special lip, which is creamy yellow with red stripes. It's about 14 to 18 mm long and 6 to 9 mm wide. Its edges are jagged, and the tip curves downwards. In the middle of the labellum, there are two rows of small, anvil-shaped bumps called calli, which are about 1.5 mm long.

You can see these beautiful orchids flowering from late July to early September.

How Did It Get Its Name?

The banded ironstone spider orchid was officially named Caladenia saxicola in 2007. It was described by two scientists, Andrew Brown and Garry Brockman, after they found a sample near Coolgardie.

The second part of its scientific name, saxicola, comes from two Latin words:

• Saxum means "rock".
• -cola means "dweller in".

So, saxicola means "rock dweller," which perfectly describes where this orchid likes to grow!

Where Does This Orchid Live?

The banded ironstone spider orchid is found in Western Australia, specifically between the towns of Canna and Diemals. It grows in areas known as the Coolgardie and Yalgoo biogeographic regions. These regions are special because the orchid mostly grows in soils that get wet during certain seasons, especially on hills made of a type of rock called banded ironstone.

Is It Protected?

The Western Australian Government's Department of Parks and Wildlife has classified Caladenia saxicola as "not threatened." This means that, for now, there are enough of these orchids, and they are not considered to be in danger of disappearing.