imported>Panamitsu: {{Use Australian English}} and general fixes

2024-07-31T07:52:36Z

{{Use Australian English}} and general fixes

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{{Short description|Species of orchid}}
{{Use Australian English|date=July 2024}}
{{speciesbox
| name = White fairy orchid
| image = Jarrahdale Flower 7.jpg
| image_caption = ''Caladenia marginata'' at [[Jarrahdale, Western Australia]]
| genus = Caladenia
| species = marginata
| authority = [[John Lindley|Lindl.]]<ref name="APNI" />
| synonyms_ref = <ref name="APNI" />
| synonyms = ''Caladeniastrum marginatum'' <small>([[John Lindley|Lindl.]]) [[Dariusz Szlachetko|Szlach.]]</small>
}}

'''''Caladenia marginata''''', commonly known as the '''white fairy orchid''', is a species of [[orchid]] [[Endemism|endemic]] to the south-west of [[Western Australia]]. It has a single pale green, hairy leaf and up to four creamy-white flowers and often grows in dense colonies, flowering profusely after summer fires.

== Description ==
''Caladenia marginata'' is a terrestrial, [[Perennial plant|perennial]], [[deciduous]], [[Herbaceous plant|herb]] with an underground [[tuber]] and which often grows in dense colonies. It has a single, broad, pale green, hairy leaf, {{convert|40-120|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} long and about {{convert|15|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} wide. Up to four creamy-white (or rarely pink) flowers {{convert|2-30|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} long and wide are borne on a stalk {{convert|80-200|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} tall. The back surface of the [[sepal]]s and [[petal]] is a rusty-brown colour. The [[wikt:dorsal|dorsal]] sepal is erect, {{convert|12-15|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} long and {{convert|2-4|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} wide and the [[wikt:lateral|lateral]] sepals are {{convert|13-16|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} long, {{convert|4-6|mm|in|sigfig=2|abbr=on}} wide and spread stiffly. The petals are {{convert|10-13|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} long and {{convert|3-4|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} wide, and spread like the lateral sepals. The [[Labellum (botany)|labellum]] is {{convert|6.5-8|mm|in|sigfig=2|abbr=on}} long and wide and has a few short teeth on its sides and there are two rows of yellowish [[Labellum (botany)|calli]] in its centre. Flowering occurs from late September to November, most prolifically after fire the previous summer.<ref name="Jones">{{cite book|last1=Jones|first1=David L.|title=A complete guide to native orchids of Australia including the island territories|date=2006|publisher=New Holland|location=Frenchs Forest, N.S.W.|isbn=1877069124|page=26}}</ref><ref name=Brown>{{cite book|last1=Brown|first1=Andrew|last2=Dundas|first2=Pat|last3=Dixon|first3=Kingsley|last4=Hopper|first4=Stephen|title=Orchids of Western Australia|date=2008|publisher=University of Western Australia Press|location=Crawley, Western Australia|isbn=9780980296457|page=154}}</ref><ref name=Hoffman>{{cite book|last1=Hoffman|first1=Noel|last2=Brown|first2=Andrew|title=Orchids of South-West Australia|date=2011|publisher=Noel Hoffman|location=Gooseberry Hill|isbn=9780646562322|page=181|edition=3rd}}</ref>

Although superficially similar to the white or pink forms of pink fairies (''[[Caladenia latifolia|C. latifolia]]''), ''C. marginata'' flowers later and has smaller flowers with brown hairs on the back.<ref name="Archer">{{cite web|last1=Archer|first1=William|title=''Caladenia marginata'' - white fairies|url=http://esperancewildflowers.blogspot.com.au/2008/08/white-fairy-orchid-caladenia-marginata.html|publisher=Esperance Wildflowers|accessdate=20 February 2017}}</ref>

== Taxonomy and naming ==
''Caladenia marginata'' was first described in 1840 by [[John Lindley]] and the description was published in ''[[A Sketch of the Vegetation of the Swan River Colony]]''.<ref name=APNI>{{cite web|title=Caladenia marginata|url= https://id.biodiversity.org.au/instance/apni/514281|publisher=APNI|accessdate=20 February 2017}}</ref><ref name="Lindl.">{{cite book|last1=Lindley|first1=John|title=A Sketch of the Vegetation of the Swan River Colony|date=1840|publisher=James Ridgway|location=London|page=51|url=https://archive.org/details/sketchvegetatio00goog|accessdate=20 February 2017}}</ref> The [[Botanical nomenclature|specific epithet]] (''marginata'') is a [[Latin]] word meaning "furnished with a border"<ref name="RWB">{{cite book|last1=Brown|first1=Roland Wilbur|title=The Composition of Scientific Words|date=1956|publisher=Smithsonian Institution Press|location=Washington, D.C.|page=512}}</ref> referring to the thickened border of the sepals and petals.<ref name="Brown" />

== Distribution and habitat ==
White fairies occurs between [[Jurien Bay]] in the north-west and [[Israelite Bay, Western Australia|Israelite Bay]] in the south-east, growing in swamps and in shallow soil on granite outcrops in the [[Avon Wheatbelt]], [[Esperance Plains]], [[Jarrah Forest]], [[Mallee (biogeographic region)|Mallee]], [[Swan Coastal Plain]] and [[Warren (biogeographic region)|Warren]] [[IBRA|biogeographic regions]].<ref name="Jones" /><ref name="Brown" /><ref name="Hoffman" /><ref name=FloraBase>{{FloraBase|name=''Caladenia marginata''|id=1605}}</ref>

==Conservation==
''Caladenia marginata'' is classified as "Not Threatened" by the Western Australian Government [[Department of Parks and Wildlife (Western Australia)|Department of Parks and Wildlife]].<ref name="FloraBase" />

== References ==
{{Reflist|30em}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q2855410}}

[[Category:Caladenia|marginata]]
[[Category:Endemic orchids of Australia]]
[[Category:Orchids of Western Australia]]
[[Category:Plants described in 1840]]

Caladenia marginata - Revision history

imported>Panamitsu: {{Use Australian English}} and general fixes