Plants
Orchids
Sighting 4350870

Caladenia fuscata

Dusky Fingers at Mongarlowe, NSW

Caladenia fuscata at Mongarlowe, NSW - 13 Oct 2020
Caladenia fuscata at Mongarlowe, NSW - 13 Oct 2020
Caladenia fuscata at Mongarlowe, NSW - 13 Oct 2020
Caladenia fuscata at Mongarlowe, NSW - 13 Oct 2020
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Identification history

Caladenia fuscata 18 Oct 2020 MattM
Caladenia fuscata 18 Oct 2020 MattM
Caladenia pusilla 14 Oct 2020 MattM
Unidentified 14 Oct 2020 LisaH

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12 comments

MattM wrote:
   14 Oct 2020
How large was this plant (and flower?) It looks like either Caladenia pusilla or Caladenia mentiens, both of which are tiny.
LisaH wrote:
   14 Oct 2020
The plant was 3-4cm high? And the flower was much smaller than the brown caps just posted - very delicate, and just above grass/pine needle height?
MattM wrote:
   14 Oct 2020
That is very helpful information. Sounds like C. pusilla then.
C. pusilla's stem only grows to 100mm, whereas C. mentiens grows to160mm. Supposedly the stem of C. pusilla is meant to be thicker than that of C. mentiens, but the images in Vicflora seem to contradict that.
CathB wrote:
   16 Oct 2020
Hi Matt. I'm not sure there's enough detail visible here to identify this one to species. I don't think size alone is enough to go on.
MattM wrote:
   16 Oct 2020
You are probably right. I had been keying out pusilla/mentiens all day so I thought this might have been one of them. I was also suspicious of the late flowering time and eastern occurrence.
LisaH wrote:
   17 Oct 2020
Thank you for the time spent on IDing. This flower was in an area close to sightings #4348367; and #4344393, if that helps?
MattM wrote:
   18 Oct 2020
Based on the nearby sightings, and having looked at the plants again, i think this may just be a small C. fuscata.
LisaH wrote:
   18 Oct 2020
I'm just wondering - what photos and information do I need to provide to help with the IDing? I can try measuring? Taking better photos from different angles? I'm totally intrigued, and would like to help to the best of my ability, and circumstances.
MattM wrote:
   18 Oct 2020
These photos are probably fine actually. Normally I would want an image providing a front and side view of the orchid. For many species it's important to include the stem and leaf of the plants, generally easy to see in a zoomed out shot. The confusion with this plant probably stemmed from me looking at C. pusilla all day - everything started to look the same as I grew tired. Your images have been pretty good overall, so I wouldn't stress too much.
LisaH wrote:
   18 Oct 2020
OK. Thank you. Just out of interest, the orchids in the other sightings were the same size - a bit above grass height?
MattM wrote:
   18 Oct 2020
I think they are all C. fuscata.
LisaH wrote:
   18 Oct 2020
Thank you very much - I sincerely appreciate your time.

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Location information

Sighting information

Species information

  • Caladenia fuscata Scientific name
  • Dusky Fingers Common name
  • Sensitive
  • Local native
  • Non-invasive or negligible
  • 1103 images trained Machine learning
  • In flower
  • External link More information

  • Synonyms

    Petalochilus fuscatus
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