King Spider Orchid
New Flower, above
Murray-Darling Region, SA
King Spider Orchid
New Flower, profile
 
                      
King Spider Orchid (Arachnorchis tentaculata)Class: Plants (Plantae) - Land Plants (Charophyta) - Land Plants (Equisetopsida) - Orchids
Order: Asparagus (Asparagales)
Family: Orchid (Orchidaceae)     iNaturalist Observation
Species: King Spider Orchid (Arachnorchis tentaculata)
This Photo:     New Flower, back
Synonym: Caladenia tentaculata

Thank you Reiner Richter & Geoffrey Cox for confirming the id of this species for us

General Species Information:
Found in the Murray-Darling, SA, Adelaide Hills, Coastal Areas and possibly elsewhere
We were quite amazed this, one and only flower we've ever had, lasted for over a month. So a number of shots shown here as it's ages.
On the 1st day it took quite a while to unravel, but by the 2nd day you can see the lower petals have crossed and the top petal hanging overhead in an arc; almost like a ballarina.
A large native orchid standing at ~300mm high, with the labelum being ~10mm wide and the petals approximately 40mm long.

Copyright © 2016-2024 Brett & Marie Smith. All Rights Reserved. Photographed 14-Oct-2016
This species is classed as RA (Rare) in the Murray-Darling, SA, by DENR (Regional Species Status Assessments, July 2010)