''Caladenia multiclavia'', commonly known as the lazy spider orchid, is a species of orchid, endemic to the

south-west The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each se ...

of Western Australia. It has a single, hairy leaf and one or two greenish-yellow, red and cream-coloured flowers resembling a reclining spider. Although it usually only has a single flower, it often grows in clumps of up to six plants. Caladenia multiclavia 01

Description

''Caladenia multiclavia'' is a terrestrial, perennial, deciduous,

herb In general use, herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables and other plants consumed for macronutrients, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicinal ...

with an underground tuber and a single erect, hairy leaf, long and wide. Up to three greenish-yellow, red and cream-coloured flowers, long and wide are borne on a stalk tall. The flowers are greenish-yellow, red and cream-coloured, shaped like a reclining spider and the sepals and

petal Petals are modified Leaf, leaves that surround the reproductive parts of flowers. They are often advertising coloration, brightly colored or unusually shaped to attract pollinators. All of the petals of a flower are collectively known as the ''c ...

s have thin, thread-like tips. The dorsal sepal and

s are close together and parallel, curved down behind the

column A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member. ...

near their bases, then upswept at the back of the flower. The lateral sepals are similarly arranged but at the front of the flower. The dorsal sepal is long and wide, the lateral sepals are long and wide and the

s are long and about wide. The labellum is long and wide, diamond-shaped and prominently red-striped in the centre of the flower. In the centre of the labellum there is a dense cluster of reddish, club-shaped calli up to long. Flowering occurs from September to October.

Taxonomy and naming

''Caladenia multiclavia'' was first described in 1871 by Heinrich Reichenbach and the description was published in ''Beitrage zur Systematischen Pflanzenkunde''. The

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

(''multiclavia'') is derived from the Latin words ''multus'' meaning "much" or "many" and ''clava'' meaning "club", referring to the many calli on the labellum of this species.

Distribution and habitat

The lazy spider orchid occurs in a band between

Wongan Hills Wongan Hills is a range of low flat-topped hills in the Avon Wheatbelt bioregion of Western Australia. It is located at , in the Shire of Wongan–Ballidu. History The range was first recorded in 1836 by Surveyor General of Western Australia Jo ...

and

Ravensthorpe Ravensthorpe may refer to any of the following places. England *Ravensthorpe, Dewsbury in West Yorkshire **Ravensthorpe railway station, Dewsbury *Ravensthorpe, Northamptonshire *Ravensthorpe, Peterborough in Cambridgeshire *Ravensthorpe, an histor ...

in the Avon Wheatbelt, Esperance Plains and Mallee

biogeographic regions A biogeographic realm or ecozone is the broadest biogeographic division of Earth's land surface, based on distributional patterns of terrestrial organisms. They are subdivided into bioregions, which are further subdivided into ecoregions. De ...

where it grows in

she-oak The Casuarinaceae are a family of dicotyledonous flowering plants placed in the order Fagales, consisting of four genera and 91 species of trees and shrubs native to eastern Africa, Australia, Southeast Asia, Malesia, Papuasia, and the Pacific Is ...

thickets and open woodland.

Conservation

''Caladenia multiclavia'' is classified as "not threatened" by the Western Australian Government

Department of Parks and Wildlife The Department of Parks and Wildlife (DPaW) was the department of the Government of Western Australia responsible for managing lands described in the ''Conservation and Land Management Act 1984'' and implementing the state's conservation and e ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15287631 multiclavia Orchids of Western Australia Endemic orchids of Australia Plants described in 1871 Endemic flora of Western Australia