''Caladenia capillata'', commonly known as white daddy long legs or wispy spider orchid, 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 Victoria and

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

. It is a ground orchid with a single hairy leaf and up to three cream-coloured to yellowish flowers with long, thread-like

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 and

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 ...

s and a very small labellum.

Description

''Caladenia capillata'' 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 ...

which often grows in clumps. It has an underground tuber and a single, very hairy, narrow linear leaf, long and wide. There are up to three, sometimes four flowers borne on a slender, very hairy spike high. The dorsal and lateral sepals and the petals are greyish cream to creamy white, sometimes with reddish streaks, long, about wide at the base and taper to a long, thread-like tip. All are covered with glandular hairs and have drooping tips. The labellum is long, about wide and egg-shaped when flattened. The labellum has many short, broad teeth along its edge and there are two rows of flattened calli in its centre. This species is similar to '' Caladenia filamentosa'' but is usually not as tall and the flowers not as red as those of that species. Flowering occurs from August to November.

Taxonomy and naming

This species was first formally described by

Ralph Tate Ralph Tate (11 March 1840 – 20 September 1901) was a British-born botanist and geologist, who was later active in Australia. Early life Tate was born at Alnwick in Northumberland, the son of Thomas Turner Tate (1807–1888), a teacher of math ...

in 1889 and given the name ''Caladenia tentaculata'' but that name was invalid because the name had already been given to a different species by

Schlechtendal Diederich Franz Leonhard von Schlechtendal (27 November 1794, Xanten – 12 October 1866, Halle) was a German botanist. He studied in Berlin, in 1819 becoming curator of the Royal Herbarium. He was a professor of botany and director of the Bo ...

. In 1922,

R.S.Rogers Richard Sanders Rogers (2 December 1861 – 28 March 1942) was a distinguished Australians, Australian medical doctor, and world authority on Australasian orchids. He described over 80 Australian orchid species, three from New Zealand and 30 from ...

changed the name to ''Caladenia filamentosa'' var. ''tentaculata'' and in 2000 David L. Jones raised it to species level with the name ''Caladenia capillata''. Tate's original description was published in '' Transactions, proceedings and report, Royal Society of South Australia'' from a specimen collected "45 miles due west of

Port Augusta Port Augusta is a small city in South Australia. Formerly a port, seaport, it is now a road traffic and Junction (rail), railway junction city mainly located on the east coast of the Spencer Gulf immediately south of the gulf's head and about ...

". 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 ...

(''capillata'') is derived from the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

word ''capillus'' meaning "hair". Confusion remains over the naming of this species because

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 ...

and Andrew Brown described '' Caladenia paradoxa'' in 2001, unaware of Jones's description of ''Caladenia capillata'' and it is possible that the two species are

synonymous A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are all ...

. The State Herbarium of South Australia continues to use the name ''Caladenia filamentosa'' var. ''tentaculata''.

Distribution and habitat

This caladenia grows in north-western Victoria in mallee scrub and in heath, malle or light scrub in rocky places in South Australia.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15287464 capillata Plants described in 1889 Endemic orchids of Australia Orchids of South Australia Orchids of Victoria (state)