''Caladenia fuscolutescens'', commonly known as the ochre spider orchid, is a species of orchid endemic 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 ...

of Western Australia. It has a single, hairy leaf and one or two brownish-yellow flowers with a pale yellow, red-striped labellum. It is most common in spring after bushfires in the previous summer.

Description

''Caladenia fuscolutescens'' 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 ...

with an underground tuber and a single erect, hairy leaf, long and wide. One or two flowers long and wide are borne on a stalk high. The flowers are brownish-yellow and 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 have long, drooping, brownish, thread-like tips. The dorsal sepal is erect, long and wide at the base. The lateral sepals are long and wide at the base and the petals are long and about wide. The labellum is long and wide and pale yellow with red stripes. The sides of the labellum have short, brownish-yellow teeth and the tip of the labellum is curved downwards. There are two rows of anvil-shaped calli along the centre of the labellum. Flowering occurs in September and October, often following bushfires the previous summer.

Taxonomy and naming

''Caladenia fuscolutescens'' was first described in 2001 by

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 Phillip Brown Andrew Phillip Brown (born 1951) is a conservation biologist and taxonomist at the Western Australian Department of Environment and Conservation. He is also curator of Orchidaceae and Myoporaceae Myoporaceae was a family of plants, found mostly ...

from a specimen collected near

Wellstead Wellstead is a small rural town situated in Western Australia in the Great Southern region between Albany and Esperance. The name commemorates the Wellstead family who settled in the area in 1860 and had held grazing land between Cape Riche ...

and the description was published in '' Nuytsia''. 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 ...

(''fuscolutescens'') is derived from the Latin words ''fuscus'' meaning "dark", "swarthy" or "dusky" and ''lutescens'' meaning "becoming yellow", referring to the distinctive colour of the flowers.

Distribution and habitat

Ochre spider orchid occurs between Albany and Wellstead in the Esperance Plains and Jarrah Forest

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 grows in scrub and woodland, usually in sandy soil.

Conservation

''Caladenia fuscolutescens'' is classified as "not threatened" by the Government of Western Australia

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=Q15287587 fuscolutescens Orchids of Western Australia Endemic orchids of Australia Plants described in 2001 Endemic flora of Western Australia Taxa named by Stephen Hopper Taxa named by Andrew Phillip Brown