''Caladenia osmera'' is a plant in the orchid family Orchidaceae and is endemic to south-eastern

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. It is a ground orchid with a single leaf and one or two greenish-cream flowers with pink stripes and which has a sharp odour resembling burnt plastic.

Description

''Caladenia osmera'' 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 leaf, long and wide. One or two greenish-cream to cream-coloured flowers with pink stripes and blotches are borne on a spike tall. The flowers have a sharp odour resembling the smell of burnt plastic. The 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 narrow, dark red, club-like glandular tips long. The sepals and

s are long and wide with the petals shorter than the sepals. The sepals and petals spread widely and horizontally or curve downwards. The labellum is greenish-cream with a dark red tip and is long and wide. The sides of the labellum curve upwards and have linear teeth up to long, decreasing in size towards the tip. There are four or six rows of calli about long near the base of the labellum and tapering towards the tip. Flowering occurs in September and October.

Taxonomy and naming

This orchid was first formally described in 2006 by David Jones and given the name ''Arachnorchis osmera''. The description was published in ''Australian Orchid Research''. In 2007

Gary Backhouse Gary may refer to: *Gary (given name), a common masculine given name, including a list of people and fictional characters with the name *Gary, Indiana, the largest city named Gary Places ;Iran * Gary, Iran, Sistan and Baluchestan Province ;Uni ...

changed the name to ''Caladenia osmera''. 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 ...

(''osmera'') is derived from the Ancient Greek word ''osme'' meaning "smell" or "odour" referring to the strong floral scent of this species.

Distribution and habitat

''Caladenia osmera'' is only known from areas east of

Bruthen Bruthen is a small town located alongside the Tambo River between Bairnsdale and Ensay on the Great Alpine Road in East Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. At the 2016 census, Bruthen had a population of 814. Bruthen is east of Bairnsdale and eas ...

where it grows in tall montane forest. It probably also occurs on the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales.

Conservation

''Caladenia osmera'' is listed as "vulnerable" under the Victorian ''

Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988 The ''Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988'', also known as the ''FFG Act'', is an act of the Victorian Government designed to protect species, genetic material and habitats, to prevent extinction and allow maximum genetic diversity within the Au ...

''.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15287625 osmera Plants described in 2006 Endemic orchids of Australia Orchids of Victoria (state) Taxa named by David L. Jones (botanist)