Don's spider orchid facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Don's spider orchid |
|
|---|---|
| Conservation status | |
Scientific classification  |
|
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Monocots |
| Order: | Asparagales |
| Family: | Orchidaceae |
| Subfamily: | Orchidoideae |
| Tribe: | Diurideae |
| Genus: | Caladenia |
| Species: |
C. cremna
|
| Binomial name | |
| Caladenia cremna (D.L.Jones) G.N.Backh.
|
|
| Script error: The function "autoWithCaption" does not exist. | |
| Synonyms | |
|
Arachnorchis cremna D.L.Jones |
|
Script error: No such module "Check for conflicting parameters".
Caladenia cremna, commonly known as Don's spider orchid, is a special kind of plant in the orchid family. It grows only in a small part of Victoria, Australia. This rare ground orchid has a single fuzzy leaf and a beautiful yellow flower with red stripes. It looks a bit like a spider, which is how it got its common name!
Contents
What Don's Spider Orchid Looks Like
Don's spider orchid is a perennial plant, meaning it lives for more than two years. It's a deciduous herb, so its leaves die back each year, but it grows back from an underground tuber (like a small potato).
It has one dull green, hairy leaf. This leaf is about 8 to 10 centimetres (3 to 4 inches) long and 4 to 8 millimetres (0.16 to 0.31 inches) wide. You might also see purple spots near the bottom of the leaf.
The Flower
A single yellow flower grows on a stem that is about 15 to 20 centimetres (6 to 8 inches) tall. The flower itself is about 4 to 5 centimetres (1.6 to 2.0 inches) across. It has fine red stripes, making it quite striking.
The petals and sepals of the flower are about 2.5 to 4.5 centimetres (1.0 to 1.8 inches) long.
- The top sepal, called the dorsal sepal, stands straight up. It's narrow at the bottom and tapers to a thin, thread-like end. This tip has a dark, reddish-purple glandular (sticky) end, about 4 to 6 millimetres (0.16 to 0.24 inches) long.
- The two side sepals, called lateral sepals, are wider at their base. They also narrow down to a thread-like tip, similar to the top sepal but a bit shorter.
- The petals are slightly shorter than the sepals and don't have the sticky tips.
All the petals and sepals spread out wide, but their tips tend to droop downwards.
The labellum (which is the special lip petal of an orchid) is shaped like a spear or an egg. It's about 15 to 17 millimetres (0.59 to 0.67 inches) long and 9 to 10 millimetres (0.35 to 0.39 inches) wide. It curves downwards at its tip. The labellum is mostly yellowish with a dark reddish tip. It has small red "teeth" along its edges, which get smaller towards the front. There are also four to six rows of well-spaced, foot-shaped bumps called calli along the middle of the labellum. These also get smaller towards the front.
Don's spider orchid usually blooms in October.
How it Got its Name
This orchid was first officially described in 2006 by a botanist named David L. Jones. He first gave it the name Arachnorchis cremna. The description was published in a scientific journal called Australian Orchid Research. He found the first plant near a place called Whitfield.
In 2007, another botanist, Gary Backhouse, changed its name to Caladenia cremna. This new name was published in The Victorian Naturalist. The word cremna comes from the ancient Greek word cremnos, which means "steep". This name was chosen because this orchid grows on steep slopes.
Where Don's Spider Orchid Lives
Don's spider orchid lives in eucalypt forests. The ground underneath these trees has a layer of heath plants and a type of grass called Rytidosperma pallidum. It prefers to grow on steep, slaty hillsides. So far, this orchid has only been found in the area where the very first plant (called the type specimen) was discovered.
Protecting Don's Spider Orchid
Don's spider orchid is very rare. Scientists have counted only between 18 and 35 plants in the area where it grows. Because it's so rare, it's considered "Endangered" by the Victorian Government under the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988. It's also listed as "Critically Endangered" by the Australian Government under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC) Act. These laws help protect plants and animals that are at risk.
The biggest dangers to Don's spider orchid are:
- Activities related to road use and maintenance, which can disturb its habitat.
- Weed invasion, where other plants grow and compete with the orchid for space and resources.
