ORCHIDACEAE

Dark Caladenia (orchid)

 

0.12m - 0.2m (12-20cm) 

Intensley white flowers with exterior covereed with black to reddish black glands. Strongly hooded dorsal sepal. 

Papery capsule 

leaf erect and linear, sparsely hairy. 

Central Highlands; Dorset; Flinders Island; Georgetown; Glamorgan-Spring Bay; Hobart; Huon Valley; Kingborough; Latrobe; Northern Midlands; Sorell; Southern Midlands 

Dry Eucalypt Forest and Woodland; Grassy Vegetation; Heath 

Open eucalypt forest and woodland, heathy understorey, sunny slopes. 

Dry; Exposed; Exposed; Moist 

Moderate 

Clay; Loam; Sandy; Well-drained 

Flowers open for only a few days. Responds well to fire and disturbance. 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.