Caladenia xantholeuca

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Flinders fingers

Critically endangered  (EPBC Act
)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Order: Asparagales
Family: Orchidaceae
Subfamily: Orchidoideae
Tribe: Diurideae
Genus: Caladenia
Species:
C. xantholeuca
Binomial name
Caladenia xantholeuca
Synonyms[1]

Petalochilus xantholeucus (D.L.Jones) D.L.Jones & M.A.Clem.

Caladenia xantholeuca, commonly known as Flinders fingers, is a species of orchid endemic to South Australia. It has a single erect, hairy leaf and up to four white flowers with green backs. There are two populations which are isolated from each other and may prove, with further research to be separate species.

Description

Caladenia xantholeuca is a terrestrial,

perennial, deciduous, herb with an underground tuber and a single hairy, bright green leaf, 150–240 mm long and 5–7 mm wide. Up to four white flowers with green backs and 17–24 mm long and 20-30 wide are borne on a stalk 150–250 mm tall. The dorsal sepal is erect, 12–16 mm long and 3–4 mm wide. The lateral sepals are 17–21 mm long, 5–6 mm wide and held at an angle below horizontal. The petals are 16–18 mm long, about 4 mm wide and spread horizontally. The labellum is 6–7 mm long, 6–8 mm wide and white with a yellow tip which has a few blunt teeth and curves downward. The sides of the labellum turn upwards and surround the column and there are two rows of yellow calli up to about 1.5 mm long along its mid-line. Flowering occurs from September to October.[2][3][4][5]

Taxonomy and naming

Caladenia xantholeuca was first described in 1998 by David Jones from a specimen collected in Telowie Gorge and the description was published in Australian Orchid Research.[1] The specific epithet (xantholeuca) is derived from the Ancient Greek words xanthos meaning "yellow"[6]: 872  and leukos meaning "white"[6]: 856  referring to the white flower with yellow parts of the labellum.[3]

Distribution and habitat

There are three known populations of Flinders fingers, two in the Mount Remarkable National Park and one in the Telowie Gorge Conservation Park, each with about 80 plants, but the orchid has rarely been seen since 1982 because of extended droughts and lack of fire.[5] A photograph taken in 2011 was confirmed as a sighting.[7]

There are slight differences between the orchids in Telowie Gorge and those on Mount Remarkable and it may be that in the future they are recognised as separate species.[4]

Conservation status

Caladenia xantholeuca is classified as "endangered" under the Australian Government Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 and as "endangered" and "possibly extinct", under the South Australian National Parks and Wildlife Act.[4][4][8]

References

  1. ^ a b c "Caladenia xantholeuca". APNI. Retrieved 1 April 2017.
  2. ISBN 1877069124
    .
  3. ^ a b Jones, David L. (1991). "New taxa of Australian Orchidaceae". Australian Orchid Research. 2: 36.
  4. ^ a b c d "Approved Conservation Advice for Caladenia xantholeuca (Flinders Ranges White Caladenia)" (PDF). Australian Government Department of the Environment. Retrieved 1 April 2017.
  5. ^ a b "Recovery plant for twelve threatened orchids in the Lofty Block region of South Australia" (PDF). Australian Government Department of the Environment. Retrieved 1 April 2017.
  6. ^ a b Brown, Roland Wilbur (1956). The Composition of Scientific Words. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press.
  7. ^ ""Orchid reappears at Mount Remarkable after 30-year absence"". Government of South Australia Department of the Environment, Water and Natural Resources. Archived from the original on 1 April 2017. Retrieved 1 April 2017.
  8. ^ "SPRAT Profile Caladenia xantholeuca — White Rabbits, Flinders Ranges White Caladenia". Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment. Retrieved 8 August 2022.
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