''Caladenia concinna'', commonly known as the neat 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 with a single hairy leaf, and usually a single greenish flower with red stripes on 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 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 ...

Description

''Caladenia concinna'' 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 an underground tuber. It has a single hairy, lance-shaped leaf up to long and wide with red spots near the base. One or two flowers are borne on a spike tall. The sepals and petals are greenish with red stripes and are about long. The ends of the sepals and petals have a narrow "tail" which sometimes has yellowish

glands In animals, a gland is a group of cells in an animal's body that synthesizes substances (such as hormones) for release into the bloodstream (endocrine gland) or into cavities inside the body or its outer surface (exocrine gland). Structure De ...

. The sepals and petals droop downwards. The labellum is broad with a few short, blunt teeth on its edges and is about long and wide. It is greenish with a maroon tip and has six crowded rows of swollen, club-shaped calli along its centre. Flowering occurs in September and October.

Taxonomy and naming

This caladenia was first formally described in 1928 by

Herman Rupp Herman Montague Rucker Rupp (27 December 1872 – 2 September 1956) was an Australian clergyman and botanist who specialised in orchids. He was known throughout his life as Montague Rupp (pronounced "Rupe") and in later life as the "Orchid Man". R ...

who gave it the name ''

Caladenia dilatata ''Caladenia dilatata'', commonly known as the green-comb spider-orchid and as koolin by Aboriginal people of the Coranderrk area, is species of flowering plant in the family Orchidaceae and is endemic to south-eastern Australia. It has a single ...

'' var. ''concinna''. The description was published in ''Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales'' and the

type Type may refer to: Science and technology Computing * Typing, producing text via a keyboard, typewriter, etc. * Data type, collection of values used for computations. * File type * TYPE (DOS command), a command to display contents of a file. * Ty ...

specimen was collected near

Griffith Griffith may refer to: People * Griffith (name) * Griffith (surname) * Griffith (given name) Places Antarctica * Mount Griffith, Ross Dependency * Griffith Peak (Antarctica), Marie Byrd Land * Griffith Glacier, Marie Byrd Land * Griffith Rid ...

. In 1989 David L. Jones and Mark Clements raised the variety to species status, giving it the name ''Caladenia concinna''. 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 ...

(''concinna'') 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 "skilfully put together", "beautiful" or "appropriate".

Distribution and habitat

''Caladenia concinna'' grows in sparse scrub in cypress-pine woodland. It occurs in

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 ...

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

, and in

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 ...

where it is found in the Griffith,

Eugowra Eugowra is a town in the Central West region of New South Wales, Australia. The town is split between Forbes Shire and Cabonne Shire local government area, west of the state capital, Sydney. At the , Eugowra had a population of 779. Geogr ...

and Hillston districts.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15287487 concinna Plants described in 1928 Endemic orchids of Australia Orchids of New South Wales Orchids of South Australia Orchids of Tasmania Taxa named by Herman Rupp