Mallee spider orchid facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Mallee spider orchid |
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| Caladenia verrucosa in the Murray-Sunset National Park | |
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Caladenia
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| Species: |
verrucosa
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The Caladenia verrucosa, often called the mallee spider orchid, is a beautiful plant from the orchid family. This special orchid is found only in certain areas of south-eastern Australia. It's a ground orchid, meaning it grows from the soil, and it usually has one fuzzy leaf. Its flower is often greenish-yellow with red stripes.
What Does the Mallee Spider Orchid Look Like?
The Mallee spider orchid is a plant that grows from the ground. It comes back every year and has a special underground storage part called a tuber, similar to a potato. It grows one fuzzy leaf that is about 60–150 mm (2–6 in) long and 6–10 mm (0.2–0.4 in) wide. This leaf often has reddish-purple spots near its bottom.
Usually, only one flower grows on a stem that is 150–300 mm (6–10 in) tall. This flower is about 40 mm (2 in) across and is yellowish-green with red stripes in the middle.
The flower has different parts:
- Its sepals (which look like petals) have bright yellow, club-shaped tips that are 7–11 mm (0.3–0.4 in) long.
- The top sepal stands straight up. It is 35–45 mm (1–2 in) long and about 2 mm (0.08 in) wide.
- The side sepals are 30–45 mm (1–2 in) long and 3–4 mm (0.1–0.2 in) wide. They suddenly get narrower about halfway along their length.
- The petals are 23–26 mm (0.9–1 in) long and about 1.5 mm (0.06 in) wide. They are shaped like thin spears and point downwards.
- The labellum (the orchid's special lip petal) is green with a dark red tip. It is about 13–15 mm (0.5–0.6 in) long and wide. The sides of the labellum curve upwards. It has three to five green "teeth" up to 4 mm (0.2 in) long, and short red teeth on each side.
- There are also four rows of dark red, stalked calli (small bumps) on the labellum. These are up to 4 mm (0.2 in) long near the base and get smaller towards the tip.
You can see these orchids flowering from September to October.
Naming the Mallee Spider Orchid
The Mallee spider orchid was first officially described in 1991 by a scientist named Geoffrey Carr. The description was published in a paper called Indigenous Flora and Fauna Association Miscellaneous Paper 1. The second part of its scientific name, verrucosa, comes from a Latin word that means "full of warts." This might refer to the bumpy texture of some parts of the flower.
Where Does the Mallee Spider Orchid Grow?
The Mallee spider orchid is most commonly found in north-western Victoria and south-eastern South Australia. It likes to grow in sandy soil within mallee woodland areas. In New South Wales, you can find it between the towns of Griffith and Rankins Springs.
