''Caleana parvula'', commonly known as the Esperance duck orchid is a species of

orchid 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 ...

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 a small area near Esperance in 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 ...

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

. It has a single smooth leaf and usually only a single greenish yellow and red flower. It is distinguished by its small flower with the calli only on the outer one-fifth of the labellum. The only other ''Caleana'' species in

which is smaller is '' C. lyonsii''.

Description

''Caleana labellum'' has a single smooth, dull green or dull red leaf, long, wide and usually withered by flowering time. Usually only one greenish-yellow and red flower, long and wide is borne on a thin, wiry stalk high. The dorsal sepal, 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 narrow and hang downwards with the dorsal sepal pressed against the column which has broad wings, forming a bucket-like shape. About one fifth of the outer part of the labellum is covered with glossy black

glands In animals, a gland is a group of cells in an animal's body that synthesizes substances (such as hormones) for release into the bloodstream (endocrine gland) or into cavities inside the body or its outer surface (exocrine gland). Structure De ...

or calli and the labellum flattened. Flowering occurs in October and November.

Taxonomy and naming

The Esperance duck orchid was first formally described in 2006 by

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 Brown who gave it the name ''Paracaleana parvula''. The description was published in '' Australian Systematic Botany'' from a specimen collected in the

Cape Arid National Park Cape Arid National Park is a List of national parks of Australia, national park located in Western Australia, southeast of Perth. The park is situated east of Esperance, Western Australia, Esperance and lies on the shore of the South coast of W ...

. In 2014, based on molecular studies, Joseph Miller and Mark Clements transferred all the species previously in ''Paracaleana'' to ''Caleana'' so that the present species became ''Caleana parvula''. 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 ...

(''parvula'') is the diminutive form of the

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 ''parvus'' meaning "little" hence "rather little", referring to the small size of the flower compared to others in the

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

Distribution and habitat

''Caleana parvula'' grows in sandy soil in shrubland between

Condingup Condingup is a town in the Goldfields–Esperance region of Western Australia, in the Shire of Esperance local government area, southeast of the state capital, Perth. At the 2016 census, it and the surrounding region had a population of 278. ...

and

Israelite Bay Israelite Bay is a bay and locality on the south coast of Western Australia. Situated in the Shire of Esperance local government area, it lies east of Esperance and the Cape Arid National Park, within the Nuytsland Nature Reserve and the Grea ...

in the

Esperance Plains Esperance Plains, also known as Eyre Botanical District, is a biogeographic region in southern Western Australia on the south coast between the Avon Wheatbelt and Hampton bioregions, and bordered to the north by the Mallee region. It is a pl ...

biogeographic region An ecoregion (ecological region) or ecozone (ecological zone) is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion, which in turn is smaller than a biogeographic realm. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of l ...

Conservation

''Caleana parvula'' (as ''Paracaleana parvula'') is classified as " Priority Two" 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 ...

meaning that it is poorly known and from only one or a few locations.

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q42705433 parvula Orchids of Western Australia Endemic orchids of Australia Plants described in 2006 Endemic flora of Western Australia