''Caladenia campbellii'', commonly known as thickstem fairy fingers or thick-stem caladenia, is a plant in the orchid family Orchidaceae and is endemic to Tasmania. It is a ground orchid with a single, sparsely hairy leaf and one or two flowers that are pinkish on the outside and cream-coloured on the inside. 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 short-lived.

Description

''Caladenia campbellii'' 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 grows singly or in small groups. It has an underground tuber and a single, sparsely hairy, narrow linear, dark green leaf, long and wide. There are one or two flowers in diameter borne on a fairly thick (about ), sparsely hairy spike high. The dorsal sepal is long, about wide and oblong to narrow egg-shaped. 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 lance-shaped, long, about wide, cream-coloured on the inside and pinkish on the outside. The labellum is about long and wide and cream-coloured with reddish lines and a yellowish tip. It has three distinct lobes and is erect near its base then more or less horizontal with the tip curving downwards. The lateral lobes are about wide and more or less erect. The mid-lobe is narrow egg-shaped, about long, wide with one broad pair of teeth on its edges. There are two rows of yellow to orange calli with white stalks in the centre of the labellum. 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. ...

is long and curves forward near its end. Flowering occurs over a very short period about the first two weeks of November but the flowers are only open for a day or two before

Taxonomy and naming

''Caladenia campbellii'' was first formally described by David Jones in 1998 and the description was published in ''Australian Orchid Research''. The type specimen was collected in Sisters Hills in the north-west of Tasmania. 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 ...

(''campbellii'') honours Jeff Campbell, who collected many orchid species for the Launceston Herbarium, including the type specimen for this species.

Distribution and habitat

This caladenia grows on slopes and ridges in stunted coastal scrub and forest in a few scattered locations in the north-west of Tasmania.

Conservation

''Caladenia campbellii'' is listed as "Endangered" on the Tasmanian '' Threatened Species Protection Act 1995'' and as "Critically Endangered" under the '' Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999'' (EPBC Act). There are only 60-100 mature plants known, in two populations, each containing fewer than fifty plants. The main threats to the species are agricultural development and vehicle disturbance.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15287520 campbellii Plants described in 1998 Endemic orchids of Australia Orchids of Tasmania Taxa named by David L. Jones (botanist)