''Caladenia clavigera'', commonly known as plain-lip spider orchid or clubbed 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 ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. It is a ground orchid which grows as scattered individuals or in small colonies in Victoria,

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 ...

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 has a single leaf and one or two small yellowish-green and red flowers.

Description

''Caladenia clavigera'' 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 a spherical underground tuber and which grows as scattered individuals or in small colonies. It has a single linear to lance-shaped leaf, long and wide which is sparsely hairy on both surfaces. One, sometimes two flowers are borne on a green to brown, hairy spike high. The flowers are about in diameter with the lateral

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

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 long, yellowish-green with a central red stripe and tapering to a thread-like tip. The tips of the sepals usually have black, glandular, club-like tips but these are lacking on the petals. The sepals and petals spread widely or droop and the dorsal sepal is erect and curves forward, forming a hood over the labellum. The labellum is egg-shaped to heart-shaped, long and wide, whitish to greenish with a dark red central portion, and curves forward. Teeth are mostly lacking on the sides of the labellum but there are four to six rows of golf club-shaped calli near its central part. Flowering occurs between August and January.

Taxonomy and naming

''Caladenia clavigera'' was first formally described by

John Lindley John Lindley FRS (5 February 1799 – 1 November 1865) was an English botanist, gardener and orchidologist. Early years Born in Catton, near Norwich, England, John Lindley was one of four children of George and Mary Lindley. George Lindley w ...

in 1940 from a specimen collected near Lithgow by Allan Cunningham. The description was published in Lindley's book, ''The Genera and Species of Orchidaceous Plants''. 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 ...

(clavigera) is a

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 meaning "little clubs", although the petals are not clubbed and sometimes neither are the sepals.

Distribution and habitat

This caladenia grows in forest and heath in New South Wales south from

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

, in many parts of Victoria, but mostly south of the ranges and in the far south-east of South Australia.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15287510 clavigera Plants described in 1940 Endemic orchids of Australia Orchids of New South Wales Orchids of South Australia Orchids of Victoria (state)