''Caladenia cadyi'' 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 the

south coast South Coast is a name often given to coastal areas to the south of a geographical region or major metropolitan area. Geographical Australia *South Coast (New South Wales), the coast of New South Wales, Australia, south of Sydney * South Coast (Q ...

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 has a single dull green leaf with purple blotches near the base, and a single greenish cream to cream flower with pink to reddish markings. It was only known from a single population which has been bulldozed and replaced with a pine plantation so that it is now probably extinct.

Description

''Caladenia cadyi'' 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 which grows in small groups. It has a single dull green leaf with purple blotches near the base. The leaf is long, wide and is densely covered with hairs up to long. A single flower wide is borne on a wiry, hairy, reddish flowering stem tall. The flower is greenish cream to cream with pink to reddish stripes and blotches. The 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 ...

is oblong to elliptic, long, wide and tapers to a thick glandular tip long. The lateral sepals are with similar to the dorsal sepal but wider. The

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 narrow lance-shaped, long and wide. The labellum is lance-shaped to egg-shaped, long and wide with erect lateral lobes. The labellum curves forward and there are five to nine pairs of linear teeth long on its sides. The mid-line of the labellum has many crowded calli near its base and four or six rows near its centre, the longest of which are long. Flowering occurs in September.

Taxonomy and naming

''Caladenia cadyi'' was first formally described in 2006 by David Jones, who gave it the name ''Arachnorchis cadyi'' and published the description in ''Australian Orchid Research'' from a specimen collected near Nowra on the road to

Tomerong Tomerong is a village in the South Coast region of New South Wales, Australia. It is located approximately 180 kilometres by road south from the state capital Sydney and 20 kilometres south of the commercial centre of the City of Shoalhaven, Nowr ...

. In 2010,

Gary Backhouse Gary may refer to: *Gary (given name), a common masculine given name, including a list of people and fictional characters with the name *Gary, Indiana, the largest city named Gary Places ;Iran * Gary, Iran, Sistan and Baluchestan Province ;Uni ...

changed the name to ''Caladenia cadyi''. 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 ...

(''cadyi'') honours Leo Cady who collected 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 ...

specimen.

Distribution and habitat

This spider orchid was only known from the type location where it grew in shrubby forest. It was last seen in 1960, after which the site was bulldozed and planted with ''

Pinus radiata ''Pinus radiata'' ( syn. ''Pinus insignis''), the Monterey pine, insignis pine or radiata pine, is a species of pine native to the Central Coast of California and Mexico (Guadalupe Island and Cedros island). It is an evergreen conifer in the fa ...

''. Although similar habitat to the type location is found nearby, the orchid has not been seen since 1960 despite extensive searching.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15287480 cadyi Plants described in 2006 Endemic orchids of Australia Orchids of New South Wales Taxa named by David L. Jones (botanist)