Caladenia bartlettii
Synonyms
Caladenia carnea var. bartlettii Hatch, Petalochilus bartlettii (Hatch) D.L.Jones et M.A.Clem.
Family
Orchidaceae
Flora category
Vascular – Native
Endemic taxon
Yes
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Structural class
Orchids
Current conservation status
The conservation status of all known New Zealand vascular plant taxa at the rank of species and below were reassessed in 2017 using the New Zealand Threat Classification System (NZTCS). This report includes a statistical summary and brief notes on changes since 2012 and replaces all previous NZTCS lists for vascular plants. Authors: By Peter J. de Lange, Jeremy R. Rolfe, John W. Barkla, Shannel P. Courtney, Paul D. Champion, Leon R. Perrie, Sarah M. Beadel, Kerry A. Ford, Ilse Breitwieser, Ines Schönberger, Rowan Hindmarsh-Walls, Peter B. Heenan and Kate Ladley.
2012 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon | Qualifiers: Sp
Previous conservation statuses
2009 | At Risk – Naturally Uncommon | Qualifiers: DP, EF
2004 | Sparse
Distribution
Endemic. North Island, from Te Paki to about the northern Waikato and Kaimai Ranges (exact southern limits as yet unclear)
Habitat
Coastal to montane (0-500 m a.s.l.). Virtually confined to kauri (Agathis australis (D.Don.) Lindl.) forest where it grows in leaf litter, often near the bases of kauri trees. Also found in gumland scrub (but always in association with kauri remnants). Evidently relishes infertile soils.
Features
Terrestrial orchid usually occurring as solitary plants sometimes as small colonies of up to 10. All parts finely but sparsely eglandular hairy. Leaf solitary up to 200 x 2 mm long, narrow-linear, dark purple-green to reddish-green. Stem erect, slender somewhat wiry, up to 300 mm tall, sparsely eglandular-glandular hairy. Floral bracts 1(-2). Flowers 1(-2) up to 20 mm diameter, in lax racemes, perianth dark glazed mauve to magenta often fading to pink or white near flower centre. Sepals narrowly-elliptic to broadly elliptic, apex obtuse; dorsal sepal erect others spreading to somewhat deflexed. Labellum 3-lobed, marked with transverse dark pink to magenta bands, disc with 2 unequal lines of stalked callii, stalks dark pink to magenta, globular callus heads yellow, lateral lobes deeply cut; mid-lobe broadly triangular, recurved, margins irregular wavy, dark yellow, marginal callii absent. Column erect to slightly recurved, dark pink to magenta, often with 2-3 darker transverse, irregular bars, column wings distinctly broadening toward apex.
Similar taxa
Caladenia alata is somewhat similar but smaller (up to 120 mm tall) has dull (not glossy) white, pink , red or mauve flowers, perianths with acute rather than obtuse-rounded segment apices, and on either side of the mid-lobe a single orange callus is present. The mid-lobe is also orange-tipped and strongly recurved. C. alata is not confined to kauri forest and is most often found in gumland scrub.
Flowering
October - December
Flower colours
Red/Pink, Violet/Purple
Fruiting
November - February
Propagation technique
Difficult - should not be removed from the wild
Threats
Caladenia bartlettii is apparently a rather sparsely distributed and naturally uncommon orchid. However, it is quite likely that the apparent rarity of this species is also in part due to its being overlooked for despite its colourful flowers it is not easily seen amongst the leaf litter in which it usually grows. A further issue is that there seems to be much confusion as to the correct application of the name with a number of unnamed segregates allied to C. bartlettii recognised by some New Zealand orchidologists.
Where To Buy
Not commericially available
TAXONOMIC NOTES
Jones et al. (2001) revived the genus Petalochilus R.S.Rogers (erected by Rogers (1924) for what has come to be viewed as a peloric state of Caladenia R.Br. - see Moore & Edgar (1970)) for a distinct clade of mostly New Zealand orchids that had usually been referred to as Caladenia. Subsequently Hopper et al. (2004) showed how the reorganisation of Caladenia by Jones et al. (2001) was unworkable and they recommended a return to Caladenia and the other allied Australian genera that had been recognised previously. Following discussion with S. Hopper and P. Weston (pers. comm., 2011, 2014) the treatment of Hopper et al. (2004) is preferred to that of Jones et al. (2001) and so followed here.
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Attribution
Fact Sheet prepared by P.J. de Lange (12 February 2007). Description based on Jones et al. (1997) - as Caladenia bartlettii.
References and further reading
Hopper, S.D.; Brown, A.P. 2004: Robert Brown’s Caladenia revisited, including a revision of its sister genera Cyanicula, Ericksonella and Pheladenia (Caladeniinae: Orchidaceae). Australian Systematic Botany 17: 1-240.
Jones, D.L.; Molloy, B.P.J.; Clements, M.A. 1997: Three new species and a new combination in Caladenia R.Br. (Orchidaceae) from New Zealand. The Orchadian 12: 221-229.
Jones, D.L.; Clements, M.A.; Sharma, I.K.; Mackenzie, A.M. 2001: A New Classification of Caladenia R.Br. (Orchidaceae). The Orchadian 13: 389-419.
Moore, L.B.; Edgar, E. 1970: Flora of New Zealand. Vol. II. Government Printer, Wellington.
Rogers, R.S. 1924: Petalochilus: a New Genus of New Zealand Orchids. Journal of Botany 62: 65-67
Citation
Please cite as: de Lange, P.J. (Year at time of access): Caladenia bartlettii Fact Sheet (content continuously updated). New Zealand Plant Conservation Network. https://www.nzpcn.org.nz/flora/species/caladenia-bartlettii/ (Date website was queried)