Plants
Orchids
Sighting 3870670

Caladenia alata

Fairy Orchid at Endrick, NSW

Caladenia alata at Endrick, NSW - suppressed
Caladenia alata at Endrick, NSW - suppressed
Caladenia alata at Endrick, NSW - suppressed
Caladenia alata at Endrick, NSW - suppressed
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Identification history

Caladenia alata 8 Nov 2018 BettyDonWood
Caladenia hillmanii 8 Nov 2018 BettyDonWood
Unverified 7 Nov 2018 CharlesDove

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6 comments

BettyDonWood wrote:
   9 Nov 2018
This looks closest in the Petalochilus group in the Shoalhaven orchid book, except for the bright orange tip of the labellum.
The comment in that book was that this species is more restricted to coastal areas to coastal areas of scrub and forest in well drained sandy soil.
BettyDonWood wrote:
   9 Nov 2018
My first thought was actually Caladenia alata, but it does not look much like the photo in the Shoalhaven book, and in particular the photo in the Shoalhaven book does not show the distinctive bright tip to the labellum. However both the sightings of alata on ALBC show this character. When I checked in the David Jones ‘Native Orchids of Australia’ book this character was in the description. However, his diagnostic for alata was ‘midlobe orange with two flat orange glands at the base. The two flat glands are there but the midlobe is not orange.
David Jones’s diagnostic for hillmanii is ‘midlobe broad, dark red to purple with darker bars, midlobe with single pair of large flat yellow teeth’.
So it does not quite fit either?
CharlesDove wrote:
   9 Nov 2018
Very Interesting, at Rusden Head trail we did see a number of them on the Florence Head trail as well.
Thanks Betty
CharlesDove wrote:
   24 Nov 2018
Mike - Will have a look tonight - must have missed the comments earlier
CharlesDove wrote:
   25 Nov 2018
I have attached a closer image of the Orchid if that helps
CharlesDove wrote:
   1 Dec 2018
That's is one to remember

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Location information

Sighting information

Species information

  • Caladenia alata Scientific name
  • Fairy Orchid Common name
  • Sensitive
  • Local native
  • Non-invasive or negligible
  • Machine learning
  • In flower
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