The Carbunup King Spider Orchid is a perennial herb that dies back to a dormant tuber during summer. It grows to 70 cm tall, and has a single, pale green leaf that is 10-30 cm long and 6-10 mm wide. Each plant has 1-3 spider-like flowers. The stiffly-held petals and sepals of the flowers are greenish lemon yellow with lines and spots of dark maroon to pink.
Carbunup King Spider Orchid |
Caladenia procera
Status: Critically Endangered on the EPBC Act list
Government evidence of impact of climate change:
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Australian Government, Listing Advices, Caladenia procera
The main threats to this species are clearing for development and grazing; there is also the potential for road and firebreak maintenance; weed invasion; inappropriate fire regimes and recreational impacts to become a threat (Stack English; 2004).
Dormancy periods may be artificially lengthened by the heat produced by fire (Stack English; 2004).
There is some decline in area of occupancy due to clearing and inappropriate fire and as land clearing and development continues to threaten subpopulations it is likely to continue to reduce the area of occupancy in the immediate future (CALM; 2006).