Caladenia villosissima (Caladenia villosissima)
Description
Caladenia villosissima, commonly known as the hairy spider orchid, is a plant in the orchid family Orchidaceae and is endemic to Victoria. It is a ground orchid with a single densely hairy leaf and a single pale green flower with red stripes along the sepals and petals. It is a poorly known species and there is insufficient information about its distribution and abundance to determine whether or not it is endangered.Caladenia villosissima is a terrestrial, perennial, deciduous, herb with an underground tuber and a single densely hairy leaf, 60–140 mm long and 6–9 mm wide, often with red blotches near its base. A single greenish flower with red stripes and 35–45 mm wide is borne on a thick, hairy spike 100–230 mm high. The sepals and petals have thick, yellowish, club-like glandular tips, 9–12 mm long on the sepals and 3–4 mm long on the petals. The dorsal sepal is erect, 30–45 mm long and about 3 mm wide. The lateral sepals are 28–40 mm long and about 4 mm wide and parallel to each other, held horizontally or turned slightly downwards. The petals are 20–25 mm long, about 2 mm wide and arranged like the lateral sepals. The labellum is pale green and white, 12–15 mm long, 13–16 mm wide with a red tip. The sides of the labellum have thin green teeth up to 3 mm long, the tip is curved downwards and there are four rows of dark red calli up to about 3 mm long, along its mid-line. Flowering occurs in September and October.
Taxonomic tree
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Domain: Eukarya
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Kingdom: Plantae
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Phylum:
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Class: Liliopsida
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Order: Asparagales
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Family: Orchidaceae
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Genus: Caladenia
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