''Caladenia nothofageti'', commonly known as beech caladenia or white fingers, is a plant in the orchid family

Orchidaceae 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 ...

and is

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 ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. It has a single, sparsely hairy, long, thin leaf and one or two white flowers with greenish-white backs, on a thin stalk.

Description

''Caladenia nothofageti'' is a terrestrial,

perennial A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...

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. It has a single, sparsely hairy, bright green leaf long and wide. One or sometimes two white flowers with a greenish-white back, across are borne on a thin, wiry stem tall. The sepals and petals are long and wide. The dorsal sepal is erect, to slightly curved forward, 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 are held horizontally or slightly downwards. The labellum is long, about wide and white or (rarely) cream-coloured with faint red bars. The sides of the labellum turn upwards and partly embrace the

column A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member. ...

and there are four to six blunt teeth on the edges near the front, with the tip of the labellum curled under. There are two rows of pale yellow calli along the centre of the labellum. Flowering occurs from November to January but the flowers are

self-pollinating Self-pollination is a form of pollination in which pollen from the same plant arrives at the stigma of a flower (in flowering plants) or at the ovule (in gymnosperms). There are two types of self-pollination: in autogamy, pollen is transferred to ...

and only open for a day or two.

Taxonomy and naming

''Caladenia nothofageti'' was first formally described in 1997 by David Jones, Brian Molloy and Mark Clements and the description was published in ''The Orchadian''.

Distribution and habitat

Beech caladenia occurs on both the

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...

and

South Island The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...

of New Zealand growing in '' Nothofagus'' forest in well-lit sites.

Conservation

''Caladenia nothofageti'' is listed as "not threatened" in New Zealand.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15287592 nothofageti Plants described in 1853 Orchids of New Zealand Taxa named by David L. Jones (botanist)