''Caladenia prolata'', commonly known as long-leaf fingers 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 ...

to southern

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 dull white flowers which are greenish with red stripes on the back.

Description

''Caladenia prolata'' 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 Tubers are a type of enlarged structure used as storage organs for nutrients in some plants. They are used for the plant's perennation (survival of the winter or dry months), to provide energy and nutrients for regrowth during the next growing ...

and which usually grows as single plants. It has a single erect, hairy leaf, long, wide with a reddish or purplish base. One or two dull white flowers which are hairy and greenish with red stripes on the back, are borne on a spike tall. The flowers are long and wide. The dorsal sepal curves forward partly forming a hood over 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 is long and wide. The lateral sepals are linear to lance-shaped, slightly sickle-shaped, long, about wide and spread slightly apart. The

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 long and about wide and spread widely apart. The petals are long and wide and spread widely apart. The labellum is dull pink with dark red bars and a yellow tip and is long and wide. The sides of the labellum have four to six short teeth near the tip as it curls under. There are two rows of white or yellow calli along the mid-line of the labellum. Flowering occurs in October and November.

Taxonomy and naming

''Caladenia prolata'' was first formally described in 1991 by David Jones and the description was published in ''Australian Orchid Research''. 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 ...

(''prolata'') is a

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

word meaning "extended" or "elongated" in reference to the

ovary The ovary is an organ in the female reproductive system that produces an ovum. When released, this travels down the fallopian tube into the uterus, where it may become fertilized by a sperm. There is an ovary () found on each side of the body. ...

which in this species is longer than in similar species, such as '' C.vulgaris''.

Distribution and habitat

''Caladenia prolata'' has been recorded from scattered locations in Victoria, south-eastern

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

and from Flinders Island and Deal Island in

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

. It grows in coastal scrub, heathy forest and sometimes on

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...

outcrops.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q9673880 prolata Plants described in 1991 Endemic orchids of Australia Orchids of Victoria (state) Taxa named by David L. Jones (botanist)