''Caladenia lobata'', commonly known as the butterfly 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 greenish-yellow flowers with red markings which have a labellum which vibrates in the slightest breeze.

Description

''Caladenia lobata'' has a single erect, hairy leaf, long and wide. One or two greenish-yellow flowers with red markings are borne on a hairy spike . The flowers are long and wide. The dorsal sepal is erect, long and wide. The lateral sepals are long, wide, curve upwards, are closely parallel to each other, and have narrow club-like glandular tips. The petals are long and about wide and spread horizontally or curve downwards. The labellum is long and wide, greenish-yellow with a red tip which curls downwards. The labellum is delicately hinged so that it vibrates in the slightest breeze. Its sides spread widely or turn upwards and have many erect to spreading teeth up to long and there are six or eight rows of red calli clustered in the centre of the labellum. Flowering is from late September to November.

Taxonomy and naming

''Caladenia lobata'' was first described by

Robert D. FitzGerald Robert David FitzGerald (or possibly Robert Desmond FitzGerald) (30 November 1830 – 12 August 1892) was an Irish-Australian surveyor, ornithologist, botanist and poet. Whilst working as a public servant FitzGerald's private passion and ability ...

in 1882 in ''The Gardeners' Chronicle'', in which he describes the species as ''"A tall robust species, probably the tallest in the genus. From 1 foot 6 inches to 2 feet, hairy."'' 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 ...

(''lobata'') is a Latin word meaning "lobed", referring to the broad lobes of the labellum.

Distribution and habitat

The butterfly orchid usually grows in dense, shrubby forest in well-drained grey sand, gravelly or clayey

loam Loam (in geology and soil science) is soil composed mostly of sand (particle size > ), silt (particle size > ), and a smaller amount of clay (particle size < ). By weight, its mineral composition is about 40–40–20% concentration of sand–sil ...

, or

laterite Laterite is both a soil and a rock type rich in iron and aluminium and is commonly considered to have formed in hot and wet tropical areas. Nearly all laterites are of rusty-red coloration, because of high iron oxide content. They develop by ...

, frequently on flats and slopes near streams. It is found between Bunbury and the

Stirling Range The Stirling Range or Koikyennuruff is a range of mountains and hills in the Great Southern region of Western Australia, south-east of Perth. It is over wide from west to east, stretching from the highway between Mount Barker and Cranb ...

in the Esperance Plains, Jarrah Forest and

Swan Coastal Plain The Swan Coastal Plain in Western Australia is the geographic feature which contains the Swan River as it travels west to the Indian Ocean. The coastal plain continues well beyond the boundaries of the Swan River and its tributaries, as a geol ...

biogeographical regions of Western Australia.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15287599

lobata Lobata is an order of Ctenophora in the class Tentaculata with smaller tentacles than other ctenophores, and distinctive flattened lobes extending outwards from their bodies. They grow up to about long. Anatomy The lobates have a pair of lo ...

Orchids of Western Australia Endemic orchids of Australia Plants described in 1882 Endemic flora of Western Australia