''Caladenia transitoria'', commonly known as green caps, is a species of orchid 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 has a single, long, erect, hairy leaf and one or two greenish-yellow flowers with purplish backs.

Description

''Caladenia transitoria'' 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 which usually grows in loose groups. It has a single erect, hairy, leaf, 60–100 mm long, 1.5-2.5 mm wide which has a slightly reddish base. One or two greenish-yellow, short-lived flowers about 20 mm wide are borne on a stalk 80–160 mm tall. The backs of 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 are covered with brownish or purplish glands. The dorsal sepal is 7–11 mm long, 2–3 mm wide and curves forward, forming a cap 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. ...

. The lateral sepals have similar dimensions to the dorsal sepal but are held horizontally and spread apart from each other. The petals are 7–10 mm long, about 2 mm wide and spread horizontally or upwards. The labellum is 5–6 mm long and about 4 mm wide, whitish with reddish-purple bars. The lateral lobes of the labellum are erect and surround the column while the central part has four to six short, purplish-black teeth on each side. The tip of the labellum is curved downward and there are four rows of dark purple, stalked calli along the mid-line of the labellum. Flowering occurs from October to November but only last for one or two days and the flowers are sometimes

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 ...

Taxonomy and naming

''Caladenia transitoria'' was first described in 1998 by David Jones from a specimen collected in Launceston 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 ...

(''transitoria'') is a Latin word meaning "fleeting", "passing" or "temporary" referring to this orchid's brief flowering period.

Distribution and habitat

Green caps is widespread but uncommon, occurring in the Blue Mountains and coastal districts of New South Wales, in eastern Victoria and in Tasmania. It grows in shrubland, woodland and forest.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15287680 Endemic orchids of Australia Orchids of New South Wales Orchids of Victoria (state) Orchids of Tasmania transitoria Plants described in 1998 Taxa named by David L. Jones (botanist)