''Caladenia bartlettii'' is a plant in the orchid family Orchidaceae and is endemic to New Zealand. It is a ground orchid with a single narrow, hairy leaf and a thin wiry stem usually bearing one short-lived mauve to pink flower.

Description

''Caladenia bartlettii'' 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 ...

, sometimes solitary or in groups of up to ten individuals. It has an underground tuber and a single hairy, narrow linear leaf up to long, wide and dark purplish or reddish-green. One, sometimes two flowers up to in diameter are borne on a thin, sparsely hairy, wiry spike, high. The sepals and

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 are a dark magenta colour shading to white in the lower parts. The dorsal sepal is erect and the lateral sepals are elliptic in shape with a rounded end and are slightly larger than the petals. The labellum has three lobes with red stripes, the mid-lobe triangular in shape, curled under and dark yellow with a wavy edge. There are two rows of bright yellow-tipped calli along the mid-line of the labellum. Flowering occurs from October to December but the flowers are

self-pollinating Self-pollination is a form of pollination in which pollen from the same plant arrives at the stigma of a flower (in flowering plants) or at the ovule (in gymnosperms). There are two types of self-pollination: in autogamy, pollen is transferred to ...

and only last for a few days.

Taxonomy and naming

The species was first formally described in 1949 by

Edwin Hatch Edwin Warren Hatch (4 September 1835 Derby, England – 10 November 1889 Oxford, England) was an English theologian. He is best known as the author of the book '' Influence of Greek Ideas and Usages Upon the Christian Church'', which was based ...

as a variety of ''Caladenia carnea'' and the description was published in ''Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand''. The name was changed to ''Caladenia bartlettii'' in 1997. 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 ...

(''bartlettii'') honours Francis (Frank) William Bartlett (1896-1979) of Silverdale, "whose knowledge of the gumlands flora has made his home the mecca of Auckland enthusiasts for many years".

Distribution and habitat

This caladenia grows in shady places in poor soil, always in forests dominated by kauri trees. It is found on both the North and

South Island The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...

of New Zealand.

Conservation

''Caladenia bartlettii'' was classified in 2012 as "At Risk - Naturally Uncommon".

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15287504 bartlettii Plants described in 1949 Orchids of New Zealand Taxa named by David L. Jones (botanist) Taxa named by Mark Alwin Clements Taxa named by Brian Molloy (botanist)