Scientific Name: Caladenia latifolia

Common Name: pink fairies

Family Classification (Clade): Monocots

Family: Orchidaceae

Form Description: Leaf broadly lanceolate, bright green, very hairy on both surfaces, usually lax on the ground. Scape wiry and hairy.

Height (m): 0.12 – 0.45

Flowers: 1-4 pale pink or bright pink internally, externally duller and hairy, labellum pink, calli yellow and column pale pink with a dark pink toned anther.

Fruit: Papery capsule

Municipality
Break O’DayBurnieCentral HighlandsClarenceDerwent ValleyDorsetFlindersGeorge TownGlamorgan-Spring BayKing IslandLatrobe
Plant Communities
Coastal VegetationDry Eucalypt ForestGrassland
Habitat Notes

Windblown salt-spray areas near the sea, coastal scrub, grassland, teatree scrub and sheoak woodland.

Site Tolerance

Dry, Exposed, Moist, Windy

Soil Tolerance

Loam, Sandy, Well-drained

Frost Tolerance

Tender

General Notes

Responds well to fire, often with vigour. Unlike most Caladenia species, Caladenia latifolia produces several tubers on the end of stolonoid roots.

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.