ORCHIDACEAE

Dark-heart Caladenia (orchid)

 

0.06m - 0.16m (6-16cm) 

Flowers 1-2, short lived, white or pinkish internally, yellowish green externally, labellum mid-lobe and lateral lobes cream withdeep crimson coalescing bars, apex of mid-lobe yellowish, calli yellow with dark red stalks, column green with crimson bars and suffusions. 

Papery capsule 

Leaf erect, narrowly linear, densely hairy. Scape, relatively thick, densely hairy. 

Burnie 

Dry Eucalypt Forest and Woodland; Heath 

Tas. endemic. Eucalyptus obliqua. woodland with heathy and scrubby understorey dominated by Leptospermum sp. and Bauera rubioides. and in tall open E. obliqua. forest. 

Exposed; Exposed; Moist; Shady 

Tender 

Clay; Loam; Poorly-drained; Sandy 

The flowers open for only a few days before self pollinating. Responds well to fire and disturbance. Not represented in reserves. Suitable below powerlines. 

 

Standard 

 

 

Orchid seeds are very minute yellow, brown or blackish dust-like particles. Orchid seeds are produced within a capsule that splits at maturity and releases tousands to millions of seeds. Dispersed by wind and water and only germinate following infection of the embryo by a suitable mycorrhizal fungus. Very few seeds become mature plants. For more information see Jones, Wapstra, Tonelli, Harris (1999): The Orchids of Tasmania.