Caladenia excelsa Hopper & A.P.Br.

Giant spider orchid (en)

Species

Angiosperms > Asparagales > Orchidaceae > Caladenia

Characteristics

Leaf 200–350 × 6–12 mm. Flower stem 450–900 mm tall, 1–3-flowered. Flowers very large, 70–150 mm across, with a faint, sweet scent, cream to greenish white, sometimes with red suffusions and stripes; sepals and petals with long, greenish or brownish, densely glandular, thread-like tips (no clubs). Dorsal sepal erect at base then incurved or recurved and drooping, 130–200 × 3–5 mm. Lateral sepals lax to pendulous, 130–200 × 5–7 mm, divergent. Petals lax to pendulous, 95–150 × 3–5 mm. Labellum 25–35 × 12–17 mm, greenish white with a maroon apex; margins with numerous, spreading, thin teeth to 10 mm long; tip recurved. Calli to 2.5 mm long, maroon or white, in 4 rows nearly to labellum apex. Column 18–23 × 8–12 mm, creamy yellow with pink markings.
Life form -
Growth form herb
Growth support free-standing
Foliage retention deciduous
Sexuality hermaphrodite
Pollination -
Spread -
Mature width (meter) -
Mature height (meter) 0.45 - 0.9
Root system -
Rooting depth (meter) -
Root diameter (meter) -
Flower color
Blooming months -
Fruit color -
Fruiting months -
Nitrogen fixer -
Photosynthetic pathway -

Environment

Highly localised and rare; growing in Banksia woodland and shrubby jarrah forest in deep, freely draining sands.
Light -
Soil humidity -
Soil texture -
Soil acidity -
Soil nutriment -
Hardiness (USDA) -

Usage

Uses -
Edible -
Therapeutic use -
Human toxicity -
Animal toxicity -

Cultivation

Mode -
Germination duration (days) -
Germination temperacture (C°) -
Germination luminosity -
Germination treatment -
Minimum temperature (C°) -
Optimum temperature (C°) -
Size -
Vigor -
Productivity -

Images

Caladenia excelsa unspecified picture

Distribution

Caladenia excelsa world distribution map, present in Australia

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:20002674-1
WFO ID wfo-0000342630
COL ID PBSR
BDTFX ID -
INPN ID -
Wikipedia (EN) Link
Wikipedia (FR)

Synonyms

Arachnorchis excelsa Caladenia excelsa Calonemorchis excelsa