''Caladenia attenuata'', commonly known as Duramana fingers, is a plant in the orchid family

Orchidaceae Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Along with the Asteraceae, they are one of the two largest families of flowering ...

and is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to a small area in

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

. It is a ground orchid with a single hairy leaf and white flowers on a tall spike.

Description

''Caladenia attenuata'' is a terrestrial,

perennial A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...

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 ...

with an underground tuber and a single hairy leaf. The flowers are less than in diameter and are borne on a spike up to high. The flowers are white with a dorsal

sepal A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 The term ''sepalum'' was coined b ...

that curves forwards, forming a hood over the

column A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member. ...

. The mid-lobe of the labellum has a smooth edge but the surface is wrinkled. Flowering occurs in October and November.

Taxonomy and naming

This species was first formally described by William Brinsley in 1964 and given the name ''Caladenia carnea'' var. ''attenuata''. The description was based on a plant collected from near Duramana, north of Bathurst and was published in ''The Orchadian''. In 2000, David L. Jones raised it to species status. 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 ...

(''attenuata'') is a

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

word meaning "drawn out", "tapered" or "thin".

Distribution and habitat

When Brinsley described the species, he noted that "considerable numbers of flowering specimens were seen over a fairly restricted area" at the

type Type may refer to: Science and technology Computing * Typing, producing text via a keyboard, typewriter, etc. * Data type, collection of values used for computations. * File type * TYPE (DOS command), a command to display contents of a file. * Ty ...

location in 1964. Subsequent searches of the area and nearby habitat have failed to find any specimens. More recently, the only sighting has been a single specimen was found near Ilford in 1972 and a further possible sighting in the same area in 2013. The population size is therefore considered to be extremely low. Both sites where the orchids have been seen in the past are subject to grazing by cattle and rabbits.

Conservation

''Caladenia attenuata'' is classified as "Critically Endangered" under the New South Wales Government '' Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016'' and the Commonwealth Government '' Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999'' (EPBC) Act.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15287466

attenuata ''Attenuata'' is a genus of minute sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks or micromollusks in the family Lironobidae. Species There are 21 species within the genus ''Attenuata'', including: * † '' Attenuata admiranda'' Richardson, 1997 * '' A ...

Plants described in 1964 Endemic orchids of Australia Orchids of New South Wales