''Caladenia uliginosa'' subsp. ''uliginosa'', commonly known as the dainty spider orchid, or darting spider orchid is a plant in the orchid family Orchidaceae and is 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. It has a single hairy leaf and up to four greenish-cream flowers which have a forward-projecting labellum with a dark red tip.

Description

''Caladenia uliginosa'' subsp. ''uliginosa'' 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, 100–160 mm long and 8–10 mm wide. Up to four greenish-cream flowers 80–120 mm long and 40–60 mm wide are borne on a spike 200–350 mm tall. 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 brownish, thread-like tips. The dorsal sepal is erect, 45–100 mm long and about 2 mm wide and the lateral sepals are 45–100 mm long, 4–5 mm wide and curve downwards. The petals are 35–80 mm long and about 3 mm wide and also curve downwards. The labellum is 14–22 mm long, 7–10 mm wide, cream-coloured and projects forward with a dark red tip. The side of the labellum have thin, red, erect teeth up to 2.5 mm long, its tip curves downward and there are four rows of red calli along its centre. Flowering occurs from late September to early November.

Taxonomy and naming

''Caladenia uliginosa'' was first described in 1984 by

Alex George Alexander or Alex George may refer to: *Alex George (botanist) (born 1939), Australian botanist * Alexander L. George (1920–2006), American political scientist * Alexander George (philosopher), American philosopher *Alex George (motorcyclist), Sc ...

from a specimen collected near Frankland and the description was published in '' Nuytsia''. In 2001,

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 ...

described three subspecies, including subspecies ''uliginosa'' and the description was also 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 ...

(''uliginosa'') is a Latin word meaning "full of moisture", "wet" or "marshy" referring to the swampy habitat where this orchid usually grows.

Distribution and habitat

The dainty spider orchid is found between Boddington and Mount Barker in the Jarrah Forest and

Swan Coastal Plain The Swan Coastal Plain in Western Australia is the geographic feature which contains the Swan River as it travels west to the Indian Ocean. The coastal plain continues well beyond the boundaries of the Swan River and its tributaries, as a geol ...

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 moist forest and areas that are wet in winter.

Conservation

''Caladenia uliginosa'' subsp. ''uliginosa'' 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

{{DEFAULTSORT:Caladenia uliginosa uliginosa Endemic orchids of Australia Orchids of Western Australia Plants described in 1984 Plant subspecies Taxa named by Stephen Hopper