Caladenia bicalliata subsp. bicalliata
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| Limestone spider orchid | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Monocots |
| Order: | Asparagales |
| Family: | Orchidaceae |
| Subfamily: | Orchidoideae |
| Tribe: | Diurideae |
| Genus: | Caladenia |
| Species: | |
| Subspecies: | C. b. subsp. bicalliata |
| Trinomial name | |
| Caladenia bicalliata subsp. bicalliata | |
Caladenia bicalliata subsp. bicalliata, commonly known as the limestone spider orchid or dwarf limestone spider orchid, is a plant in the orchid family Orchidaceae and is native to the south-west of Western Australia and coastal areas of South Australia. It has a single erect, hairy leaf and one or two cream-coloured flowers with reddish-brown tips.
Caladenia bicalliata subsp. bicalliata is a terrestrial, perennial, deciduous, herb with an underground tuber and which occurs singly or in small clumps. It has a single erect, very hairy, linear to lance-shaped leaf, 6–20 cm (2–8 in) long and 2–5 mm (0.08–0.2 in) wide. The inflorescence is a raceme, 10–35 cm (4–10 in) high with one or two flowers, each flower 5–7 cm (2–3 in) long and 4 cm (2 in) wide. The dorsal sepal is about 2 cm (0.8 in) long and abruptly narrows about one-third of its length from the base. The lateral sepals and petals are cream or greenish-cream, much shorter than those of the similar C. abbreviata and C. evanescens and have reddish-brown tips. The lateral sepals are less than 2 cm (0.8 in) long and thread-like for about half their length and the petals are about the same length and gradually taper to a thread-like tip. The labellum is egg-shaped, about 7 mm (0.3 in) long, 5 mm (0.2 in) wide and white with red stripes. The edge of the labellum is serrated and there are two rows of white-tipped calli along its centre. Flowering occurs from August to early October, however the flowers are often open for only one or two days and sometimes self-pollinate and do not open at all.[1][2][3][4]
Taxonomy and naming
Caladenia bicalliata was first formally described by Richard Rogers in 1909[5] but in 2001 Stephen Hopper and Andrew Brown described two subspecies, including subspecies bicalliata and the description of the two subspecies was published in Nuytsia[6] The specific epithet (bicalliata) is a derived from the Latin bi- meaning "two", callus meaning "a callus" and -atus indicating possession, referring to the two pairs of rows of calli on the labellum.[1][7]