Caladenia x hopperi

Caladenia x hopperi J.M.H.Shaw

Caladenia sp. ‘ornate labellum’; Caladenia × ornata; × Drakodenia ornata

Ornate Spider Orchid

Stephen Hopper & Andrew Brown in Nuytsia 14(1/2): 296-299, Fig 76, 77 (2001) as Caladenia × ornata

Pithara to Miling, growing on sandy rises above saline flats.

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A distinctive hybrid 120–200 mm high with a dull green, prominently hairy leaf 80–140 mm long by 3–4 mm wide and up to two creamy-white, red-marked flowers 30–50 mm across.

Priority One

A rare hybrid between Hinged Dragon Orchid (Caladenia drakeoides) and Salt Lake Spider Orchid (C. exilis). The species was named Caladenia × ornata by Stephen Hopper and Andrew Brown in 2001. However, as an Eastern Australian species had been named Caladenia ornata the previous year, the name of the Western Australian species was considered invalid and it was renamed C. × hopperi by Julian Shaw in 2014 in honour of WA Native Orchid Study and Conservation Group member: Steve Hopper