Caladenia pumila
R.S.RogersFlowering plant 10–15 cm tall. Leaf 6–8 cm long, 5–15 mm wide, spotted with red at base. Flower solitary; perianth segments 2–4 cm long, white, sometimes with pink markings, lateral sepals and petals spreading; sepals flattened at base, 2–4 mm wide, abruptly tapered to a relatively short tail usually covered in non-contiguous sessile glands; petals usually shorter than sepals, flattened at base, tapered to acuminate apex, sometimes with scattered glands. Labellum curved forward with apex recurved and lateral lobes erect, lamina ovate, obscurely 3-lobed, c. 17 mm long and c. 8 mm wide (when flattened), white with pink margins; margins of lateral lobes entire to shortly toothed or scalloped towards apex, those of mid-lobe entire, shortly toothed or scalloped, teeth <1 mm long; lamina calli in 4 or 6 rows, pink, extending just onto mid-lobe, narrow, foot-shaped, c. 1.5 mm long at base of lamina, decreasing in size towards apex. Flowers Sep.–Oct.
VVP, GipP. Apparently once locally common in grassland around Bannockburn (c. 25 km north-west of Geelong), but not recorded from there or elsewhere between the 1920s and the discovery of 2 plants in 2009.
Critically endangered and the subject of an ex-situ micropropagation program.
Characterized by its small stature, white flowers, sessile perianth segment glands, and shallowly toothed pink-margined labellum.
Entwisle, T.J. (1994). Orchidaceae. In: Walsh, N.G.; Entwisle, T.J., Flora of Victoria Vol. 2, Ferns and Allied Plants, Conifers and Monocotyledons, pp. 740–901. Inkata Press, Melbourne.
