''Caladenia caesarea'' subsp. ''maritima'', commonly known as the cape spider orchid, is a plant in the orchid family Orchidaceae and is endemic to the

south-west The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each se ...

of Western Australia. It has a single spreading, hairy leaf and up to three small mustard-coloured flowers with red stripes. It is only known from a small coastal area near Cape Leeuwin where it grows in clumps of ten or more. Caladenia caesarea maritima 02

Description

''Caladenia caesarea'' subsp. ''maritima'' 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 ...

which often occurs in clumps of ten or more. It has an underground tuber and a single erect, hairy leaf long and wide. There are up to three flowers borne on a stem high and each flower is long and wide. The lateral 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 spread widely. The labellum is mustard-yellow with brownish-red stripes, projects prominently, has an irregularly serrated edge and two rows of shiny yellow calli along its centre. Flowering occurs from August to mid-September and is followed by a non-fleshy,

dehiscent Dehiscence is the splitting of a mature plant structure along a built-in line of weakness to release its contents. This is common among fruits, anthers and sporangia. Sometimes this involves the complete detachment of a part; structures that op ...

capsule containing a large number of seeds.

Taxonomy and naming

'' Caladenia caesarea'' was first formally described by Karel Domin in 1912 and given the name ''Caladenia filamentosa'' subsp. ''caesarea''. Domin's description was published in ''

Journal of the Linnean Society, Botany The ''Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society'' is a scientific journal publishing original papers relating to the taxonomy of all plant groups and fungi, including anatomy, biosystematics, cytology, ecology, ethnobotany, electron microscopy, ...

'' but in 1989 Mark Clements and

Stephen Hopper Stephen Donald Hopper AC FLS FTSE (born 18 June 1951) is a Western Australian botanist. He graduated in Biology, specialising in conservation biology and vascular plants. Hopper has written eight books, and has over 200 publications to his n ...

raised it to species status. In 2001 Hopper and Andrew Brown described three subspecies, including subspecies ''maritima'' and the descriptions were published in '' Nuytsia''. The

epithet An epithet (, ), also byname, is a descriptive term (word or phrase) known for accompanying or occurring in place of a name and having entered common usage. It has various shades of meaning when applied to seemingly real or fictitious people, di ...

(''maritima'') is a Latin word meaning "of the sea", referring to the "coastal habitat of this species".

Distribution and habitat

Cape spider orchid occurs in the south-west corner of Western Australia between Dunsborough and Cape Leeuwin in the Jarrah Forest

biogeographic region An ecoregion (ecological region) or ecozone (ecological zone) is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion, which in turn is smaller than a biogeographic realm. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of l ...

where it grows in shallow soil on granite outcrops. It is endemic to

Meelup Regional Park The Meelup Regional Park is a coastal regional park near the Western Australian town of Dunsborough in the state's South West region. It contains of coastline between Dunsborough and Bunker Bay (the latter in the Leeuwin-Naturaliste National ...

Conservation

''Caladenia caesarea'' subsp. ''maritima'' is classified as "endangered" under the '' Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999'' and as "rare flora" under the Western Australian '' Wildlife Conservation Act 1950''. An interim recovery plan has been prepared for this subspecies.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q21382903

caesarea Caesarea () ( he, קֵיסָרְיָה, ), ''Keysariya'' or ''Qesarya'', often simplified to Keisarya, and Qaysaria, is an affluent town in north-central Israel, which inherits its name and much of its territory from the ancient city of Caesare ...

Endemic orchids of Australia Orchids of Western Australia Plants described in 2001 Taxa named by Stephen Hopper