Caladenia fitzgeraldii
Caladenia fitzgeraldii, commonly known as Fitzgerald's spider orchid, is a plant in the orchid family Orchidaceae and is endemic to New [South Wales] and the Australian Capital Territory. It is a ground orchid with a single hairy leaf and usually only one greenish-yellow and red flower.
Description
Caladenia fitzgeraldii is a terrestrial, perennial, deciduous, herb with an underground tuber and a single hairy, linear to lance-shaped leaf, long and wide. A single yellowish-green flower wide and with red markings is borne on a spike high. The dorsal sepal is erect but curves forward, long and about wide. The lateral sepals and petals spread widely, turn stiffly downwards and have glandular tips at least long. The lateral sepals are long, wide and the petals are long and wide. The labellum is more or less egg-shaped, long and wide, yellowish near its base and red to maroon near the tip. There are 8 to 12 pairs of linear teeth long along its edges and four rows of red, golfstick-shaped calli along its centre. Flowering occurs from August to November.
Taxonomy and naming
Caladenia fitzgeraldii was first formally described by Herman Rupp in 1942 and the description was published in Australian Orchid Review.
Distribution and habitat
Fitzgerald's spider orchid grows in forest in rocky soil in the Australian Capital Territory and the Wellington, [New South Wales|Wellington]-Bathurst area of New South Wales.