''Caladenia callitrophila'', commonly known as the Berrigan spider orchid, is a plant in the orchid family Orchidaceae and is endemic to a small area in New South Wales. It has a single leaf and one or two pale greenish-yellow flowers with red markings and only occurs in three small populations.

Description

''Caladenia callitrophila'' 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 ...

with an underground tuber and a single leaf, long and wide. One or two flowers are borne on a stalk tall. The flowers are pale greenish-yellow with reddish marks and are wide. The dorsal sepal is erect, long and about wide while the lateral sepals are about the same length but twice as wide, spread widely and turn down below horizontal. 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 long and about wide and also deflected downwards at an angle. The labellum is long and wide, yellowish with red lines and a maroon tip. The labellum curves forward and downwards and there are six to nine pairs of red teeth on its sides. The mid-line of the labellum has four or six rows of maroon calli up to long. Flowering occurs from September to October.

Taxonomy and naming

''Caladenia callitrophila'' was first formally described by David L. Jones in 1999 and the description was published in ''The Orchadian'' from a specimen collected near Berrigan. 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 ...

(''callitrophila'') is derived from the name of cypress pines in the genus ''

Callitris ''Callitris'' is a genus of coniferous trees in the Cupressaceae (cypress family). There are 16 recognized species in the genus, of which 13 are native to Australia and the other three (''C. neocaledonica, C. sulcata'' and ''C. p ...

''. This orchid grows in ''Callitris'' woodland.

Distribution and habitat

Berrigan orchid occurs in three small scattered populations near Berrigan where it grows in ''Callistris'' woodland.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q9673402 callitrophila Plants described in 1999 Endemic orchids of Australia Orchids of New South Wales Taxa named by David L. Jones (botanist)