Australian Native Plants

  Caladenia fuscata (Dusky Fingers)


Caladenia fuscata photo
Caladenia fuscata, Black Mountain, Canberra, ACT

Photograph by Donald Hobern from Canberra, Australia. Some rights reserved.    (view image details)




DUSKY FINGERS FACTS

distribution map showing range of Caladenia fuscata in Australia

Map is from The Atlas of Living Australia web site, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Australia License


Common Name
Dusky Fingers

Other Names
Dusky Caladenia

Description
Dusky Fingers is a pink flowering terrestrial orchid from eastern Australia. It is similar in appearance to the Pink Fingers Orchid (Caladenia carnea ) but has smaller flowers and labellum lobes more closed together. The flowers are dusky pink with the lateral sepals and sepals having an elongated oval or finger shape. flower colour varies, and some plants have almost white flowers. The flowers sepals and petals are broader than some of the other Spider Orchids in the genus. The labellum is about 6 mm wide with three lobes and darker reddish stripes inside. flowering is in spring. The plant has a single narrow leaf growing to about 15 cm long and 3 mm wide from the base of the plant.

Habitat
open eucalypt forest

Distribution
Caladenia fuscata is found in eastern Queensland, eastern New South Wales, Victoria, south east South Australia and Tasmania. The species is also found in New Zealand.

Growth Characteristics
Height: 15cm - 150cm
Classification
Class:Liliopsida
Order:Asparagales
Family:Orchidaceae
Genus:Caladenia
Species:fuscata
Common Name:Dusky Fingers


Relatives in same Genus
  Caladenia ampla
  Caladenia arenicola
  Caladenia carnea
  Caladenia catenata
  Caladenia clavigera
  Caladenia crebra
  Caladenia cruciformis
  Caladenia flava
  Caladenia fulva
  Caladenia gracilis
  Caladenia integra
  Caladenia latifolia
  Caladenia leptochila
  Caladenia longicauda
  Caladenia moschata
  Caladenia paludosa
  Caladenia roei
  Caladenia tentaculata
  Caladenia ustulata
  Caladenia venusta
  Caladenia versicolor
  see A-Z list for more ...