''Caladenia ensata'', commonly known as the stumpy spider orchid, is a species of

orchid 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 ...

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 the

south-west The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each se ...

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

. It is a common orchid within its natural range and has a single, hairy leaf and up to three pale yellow and red flowers which have short but thick, fleshy glandular tips.

Description

''Caladenia ensata'' has a single erect, hairy leaf, long and wide. Up to three flowers wide are borne on a stalk high. The flowers are pale yellow and red or greenish and red and the

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 have narrow, thick, glandular tips long. The dorsal sepal is erect, long and about wide at the base. The lateral sepals are a similar size to the dorsal sepal but spread widely and are stiffly held at an angle below horizontal. The petals are long, about wide and arranged like the lateral sepals. The labellum is long and wide and greenish-yellow with a red tip. There are a few short, pointed greenish teeth on the side of the labellum and four or more rows of maroon calli up to long along its centre line. Flowering occurs from September to early November.

Taxonomy and naming

''Caladenia ensata'' was first described by William Nicholls in 1947 from a specimen he collected on the banks of the King River. The description was published in ''

The Victorian Naturalist ''The Victorian Naturalist'' is a bimonthly scientific journal covering natural history, especially of Australia. It is published by the Field Naturalists Club of Victoria and is received as part of the membership subscription of that club. From ...

''. 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 ...

(''ensata'') 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 ''ensis'' meaning "sword" referring to the sword-like tips of the petals and sepals.

Distribution and habitat

Stumpy spider orchid is found between Albany and Augusta in the

Jarrah Forest Jarrah forest is tall open forest in which the dominant overstory tree is ''Eucalyptus marginata'' (jarrah). The ecosystem occurs only in the Southwest Botanical Province of Western Australia. It is most common in the biogeographic region named in ...

and

Warren A warren is a network of wild rodent or lagomorph, typically rabbit burrows. Domestic warrens are artificial, enclosed establishment of animal husbandry dedicated to the raising of rabbits for meat and fur. The term evolved from the medieval Angl ...

biogeographic regions A biogeographic realm or ecozone is the broadest biogeographic division of Earth's land surface, based on distributional patterns of terrestrial organisms. They are subdivided into bioregions, which are further subdivided into ecoregions. De ...

where it usually grows in sandy soil in woodland. It is a common orchid but often difficult to locate because of its small size and darker colours.

Conservation

''Caladenia ensata'' is classified as "not threatened" by the Western Australian Government

Department of Parks and Wildlife The Department of Parks and Wildlife (DPaW) was the department of the Government of Western Australia responsible for managing lands described in the ''Conservation and Land Management Act 1984'' and implementing the state's conservation and e ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15287557 ensata Orchids of Western Australia Endemic orchids of Australia Plants described in 1947 Endemic flora of Western Australia