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Caladenia formosa
Also called Elegant Spider Orchid
Large crimson spider orchid is a small terrestrial orchid with a single hairy leaf and one or two crimson flowers, native to south-western Victoria and South Australia. The key to growing it is to treat it as a dormant tuber that needs well-drained soil and a dry summer rest, which makes it a difficult plant to cultivate.
Caladenia formosa, commonly known as the large crimson spider orchid, or elegant spider orchid is a plant in the orchid family Orchidaceae and is endemic to Victoria and South Australia. It is a ground orchid with a single hairy leaf and a single crimson-coloured flower and which mainly occurs only in south-western Victoria.
The large crimson spider orchid grows among shrubs or grass in forest and woodland in well-drained soil. It is only known from areas between Cavendish, Penola, Kingston SE and Keith although it probably had a wider distribution in the past.
Coastal spider orchid · Canberra spider orchid · Caladenia ×aestantha · Summer spider orchid · Fairy orchid · Stegostyla Alpina · Boranup spider orchid · Bundarra spider orchid · Charming spider orchid · Dainty spider orchid · Dainty blue china orchid · Genoa spider orchid
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Caladenia formosa by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
