''Caladenia nivalis'', commonly known as the exotic spider orchid or crystalline 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. This orchid is easily distinguished by its bright white to pale pink and red flowers and its narrow range in and near the

Leeuwin-Naturaliste National Park Leeuwin-Naturaliste National Park is a national park in the South West region of Western Australia, south of Perth. It is named after the two locations at either end of the park which have lighthouses, Cape Leeuwin and Cape Naturaliste. It is l ...

Description

''Caladenia nivalis'' 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. Up to three bright white, sometimes pale pink flowers long and wide are borne on a stalk tall. The sepals have thick, brown, club-like glandular tips. The dorsal sepal is erect, long, wide. The lateral sepals are long, wide and spread widely but with the tips turned downwards. The petals are long and wide and arranged like the lateral sepals. The labellum is long and wide, white near the base then bright red with the tip curled under. The sides of the labellum have teeth up to long and there four or more rows of red calli up to long along the centre. Flowering occurs from late August to October.

Taxonomy and naming

''Caladenia nivalis'' 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 ...

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 ...

(''nivalis'') is a Latin word meaning "snowy" or "of snow" referring to the bright white flowers of this species.

Distribution and habitat

The exotic spider orchid occurs between Cape Naturaliste and Moses Rock in the Jarrah Forest 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 grows in peppermint woodland, coastal heath and in granite crevices.

Conservation

''Caladenia nivalis'' 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=Q15287646 nivalis 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