''Caladenia alata'', commonly known as the fairy orchid, is a plant in the orchid family Orchidaceae and is found in south-eastern

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

and New Zealand. It is a ground orchid with small, usually short-lived flowers, which have relatively stiffly held

petal Petals are modified Leaf, leaves that surround the reproductive parts of flowers. They are often advertising coloration, brightly colored or unusually shaped to attract pollinators. All of the petals of a flower are collectively known as the ''c ...

s and sepals and reddish-purple bars on the labellum.

Description

''Caladenia alata'' is a terrestrial, perennial, deciduous,

herb In general use, herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables and other plants consumed for macronutrients, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicinal ...

, usually solitary but sometimes in groups of up to twenty individuals. It has an underground tuber and a single, sparsely hairy, linear to narrow lance-shaped leaf, long, wide and dark to reddish green. One or two short-lived flowers in diameter are borne on a thin, wiry spike up to high. The dorsal sepal is erect, about the same length or slightly shorter than the lateral sepals, and narrow elliptic in shape. The lateral sepals and

s are long, white or pink, asymmetrically egg-shaped with narrowing tips that are slightly hooked. The labellum is long when flattened, has three lobes and is white or pink with purple bars and a down-curved, yellow tip. The lateral lobes are large and broad with a smooth edge. There are two rows of stalked, club-shaped, yellow calli on the mid-lobe. Flowering occurs from August to October.

Taxonomy and naming

''Caladenia alata'' was first formally described by Robert Brown in 1810 and the description was published in '' Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae''. The

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

(''alata'') is a Latin word meaning "winged".

Distribution and habitat

Fairy orchid grows in forest and woodland in moist places, often in steep, rocky places but also in swamps and at lake edges. In New Zealand it sometimes occurs around hot springs. The distribution is not well understood because the flowers are small and ephemeral but it has been recorded in south-east Queensland, the coast and tablelands of New South Wales, near-coastal areas of Victoria east of Wilsons Promontory and in Tasmania. In New Zealand it is confined to the

North Island The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-largest ...

, mainly between Te Paki and

Rotorua Rotorua () is a city in the Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand's North Island. The city lies on the southern shores of Lake Rotorua, from which it takes its name. It is the seat of the Rotorua Lakes District, a territorial authority encompass ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q9673281 alata Plants described in 1810 Endemic orchids of Australia Orchids of New South Wales Orchids of Queensland Orchids of Victoria (state) Orchids of Tasmania Orchids of New Zealand Taxa named by Robert Brown (botanist, born 1773)