Scientific Name: Caladenia fuscata

Common Name: dusky fingers

Family Classification (Clade): Monocots

Family: Orchidaceae

Form Description: Leaf narrowly linear, dark green, sparsely hairy. Scape very thin and wiry, sparsely hairy.

Height (m): 0.05 – 0.12

Flowers: Flower single, white to pink internally, the exterior darker and heavily glandular, often with a prominent broad, darker central stripe, labellum white to pink with red bars, mid-lobe cream to yellowish, calli yellow, column greenish with narrow red bars.

Fruit: Papery capsule

Municipality
Break O’DayBurnieCentral HighlandsClarenceDorsetFlindersGeorge TownGlamorgan-Spring BayGlenorchyHobartKing IslandKingboroughLatrobeLauncestonNorthern MidlandsSouthern MidlandsTasmanWaratah-WynyardWest CoastWest Tamar
Plant Communities
Dry Eucalypt Forest
Habitat Notes

Heathy open eucalypt forest and woodland.

Site Tolerance

Dry, Exposed, Shady

Soil Tolerance

Loam, Sandy, Well-drained

Frost Tolerance

Tender

General Notes

Tends to favour drier habitats and to flower earlier than Caladenia carnea. Moderate to high fire frequency.

Propagation Calendar

  • Flowering Month
    Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
  • Seed Collecting Month
    Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
  • Sowing Month
    Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
  • Cutting Month
    Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Propagation Method
Specialist Method

Seed Information

Seed Treatment Notes

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 thousands 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.