Caladenia minor
Common names
caladenia; finger orchid
Biostatus
Native – Endemic taxon
Current conservation status
The conservation status of all known New Zealand vascular plant taxa at the rank of species and below were reassessed in 2022-2023 using the New Zealand Threat Classification System (NZTCS) – more information about this can be found on the NZTCS website. This report includes replaces all previous NZTCS lists for vascular plants. Previous assessments can be found here.
- Conservation status of vascular plants in Aotearoa New Zealand, 2023. 2024. Peter J. de Lange, Jane Gosden, Shannel P. Courtney, Alexander J. Fergus, John W. Barkla, Sarah M. Beadel, Paul D. Champion, Rowan Hindmarsh-Walls, Troy Makan and Pascale Michel Department of Conservation. Source: NZTCS and licensed by DOC for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence.
2023 | Data Deficient
Category
Vascular
Structural class
Orchids
Simplified description
Similar to Caladenia bartlettii but has broader petals and sepals with rounded apices.
Distribution
Endemic. New Zealand: North Island (from Te Paki south to about Kawhia and the Kaimai Ranges, East Cape, eastern Wairarapa), South Island (reported from the Nelson area).
Threats
Data Deficient because its exact distribution and abundance remain unclear due to past confusion with Caladenia chlorostyla.
Detailed taxonomy
Genus
Family
Synonyms
Petalochilus minor (Hook.f.) D.L.Jones et M.A.Clem.
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.
The identity of Caladenia minor has long been a source of confusion for New Zealand botanists. Clements (1989, p. 28) published a lectotype of the species, which apparently seems to have been overlooked by many New Zealand botanists. He clarified matters in a letter to the editor of the NZ Native Orchid Journal (Clements 2019) and since then it has been understood that C. minor is similar to C. bartlettii but differs from it by having broader petals and sepals with rounded apices. The petals of C. bartlettii are narrow with acute apices. C. minor is more widespread than C. bartlettii.
Endemic taxon
Yes
Endemic genus
No
Endemic family
No
Ecology
Flowering
October–December
Fruiting
November–March
Propagation technique
Difficult—should not be removed from the wild
Other information
Etymology
minor: Smaller
Manaaki Whenua Online Interactive Key
NVS code
The National Vegetation Survey (NVS) Databank is a physical archive and electronic databank containing records of over 94,000 vegetation survey plots - including data from over 19,000 permanent plots. NVS maintains a standard set of species code abbreviations that correspond to standard scientific plant names from the Ngä Tipu o Aotearoa - New Zealand Plants database.
CALMNR
Chromosome number
2n = 39, 40
Previous conservation statuses
The conservation status of all known New Zealand vascular plant taxa at the rank of species and below were reassessed in 2022-2023 using the New Zealand Threat Classification System (NZTCS) – more information about this can be found on the NZTCS website. This report includes replaces all previous NZTCS lists for vascular plants. Previous assessments can be found here.
- Conservation status of vascular plants in Aotearoa New Zealand, 2023. 2024. Peter J. de Lange, Jane Gosden, Shannel P. Courtney, Alexander J. Fergus, John W. Barkla, Sarah M. Beadel, Paul D. Champion, Rowan Hindmarsh-Walls, Troy Makan and Pascale Michel Department of Conservation. Source: NZTCS and licensed by DOC for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence.
2017 | Data Deficient
2012 | Not Threatened
2009 | Not Threatened
2004 | Not Threatened
Referencing and citations
References and further reading
Clements MA. 1989. Catalogue of Australian Orchidaceae. Australian Orchid Research vol. 1. Re-published in digital format 2021 by the Australian Orchid Foundation.
Clements MA. 2019. Letter to the editor on Caladenia minor. New Zealand Native Orchid Journal 154: 21–23.
Hopper SD, Brown AP. 2004 Robert Brown’s Caladenia revisited, including a revision of its sister genera Cyanicula, Ericksonella and Pheladenia (Caladeniinae: Orchidaceae). Australian Systematic Botany 17(2): 171–240. https://doi.org/10.1071/SB03002.
Jones DL, Clements MA, Sharma IK, Mackenzie AM. 2001. A New Classification of Caladenia R.Br. (Orchidaceae). The Orchadian 13(9): 389–419. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/310770#page/1/mode/1up.
Moore LB, Edgar E. 1970. Flora of New Zealand, Volume II. Indigenous Tracheophyta: Monocotyledones except Gramineae. Government Printer, Wellington, NZ. 354 p.
Rogers RS. 1924. Petalochilus: a New Genus of New Zealand Orchids. The Journal of Botany 62: 65–67. https://archive.bsbi.org/Journal_of_Botany_1924.pdf
Attribution
Fact Sheet prepared for NZPCN by P.J. de Lange 14 April 2007.
NZPCN Fact Sheet citation
Please cite as: de Lange, P.J. (Year at time of access): Caladenia minor Fact Sheet (content continuously updated). New Zealand Plant Conservation Network. https://www.nzpcn.org.nz/flora/species/caladenia-minor/ (Date website was queried)