''Caladenia longicauda'' subsp. ''australora'', commonly known as the southern white spider orchid, is a plant in the orchid family Orchidaceae and is 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 up to three mostly white, relatively small flowers. It grows in woodland and mallee on the south coast in and near the Fitzgerald River National Park.

Description

''Caladenia longicauda'' subsp. ''australora'' 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 hairy leaf, long and wide. Up to three mostly white flowers long and wide are borne on a spike tall. 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 tips. The dorsal sepal is erect, the lateral sepals are wide and the petals are wide. The labellum is mostly white, long with long, narrow teeth on its sides and there are four or more rows of pale red calli in its centre. Flowering occurs from September to October.

Taxonomy and naming

''Caladenia longicauda'' 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 1840 and the description was published in ''

A Sketch of the Vegetation of the Swan River Colony "A Sketch of the Vegetation of the Swan River Colony", also known by its standard botanical abbreviation ''Sketch Veg. Swan R.'', is an 1839 article by John Lindley on the flora of the Swan River Colony. Nearly 300 new species were published in it, ...

''. In 2001

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 Brown described eleven subspecies, including subspecies ''australora'' and the descriptions were published in '' Nuytsia''. The subspecies name (''australora'') is a derived from the Latin words ''australis'' meaning “southern" and ''ora'' meaning "the coast" referring to the distribution of this subspecies.

Distribution and habitat

The southern white spider orchid occurs in the area between the Fitzgerald National Park and the

Beaufort Inlet Beaufort Inlet also locally known as Pallinup Estuary is an inlet located in the Great Southern region of Western Australia about east of Albany. The inlet functions mostly as a result of wave energy and is a wave dominated estuary. The estu ...

in the Esperance Plains

biogeographic region An ecoregion (ecological region) or ecozone (ecological zone) is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion, which in turn is smaller than a biogeographic realm. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of l ...

where it grows in woodland in calcareous sand.

Conservation

''Caladenia longicauda'' subsp. ''australora'' 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=Q26205505 longicauda subsp. australora Endemic orchids of Australia Orchids of Western Australia Plants described in 2001 Taxa named by Stephen Hopper Taxa named by Andrew Phillip Brown