Pheladenia

{{Short description|Genus of orchids}} {{Italic title}} {{Speciesbox | name = Blue fairy orchid | image = Pheladenia deformis (8692921924).jpg | image_caption = ''Pheladenia deformis'' | display_parents = 4 | genus = Pheladenia | parent_authority = D.L.Jones & M.A.Clem. | species = deformis | authority = ([[Robert Brown (Scottish botanist from Montrose)|R.Br.]]) D.L.Jones & M.A.Clem. | synonyms_ref = <ref name="rosemary">[http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/namedetail.do?name_id=151343 Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families]</ref> | synonyms = *''Caladenia deformis'' [[Robert Brown (Scottish botanist from Montrose)|R.Br.]] *''Cyanicula deformis'' (R.Br.) [[Stephen Hopper|Hopper]] & [[Andrew Phillip Brown|A.P.Br.]] *''Pentisea deformis'' (R.Br.) [[Dariusz Szlachetko|Szlach.]] *''Caladenia unguiculata'' [[John Lindley|Lindl.]] *''Caladenia barbata'' Lindl. *''Caladenia deformis'' var. ''albiflora'' [[George Bentham|Benth.]] *''Caladenia deformis'' var. ''alba'' [[William Robert Guilfoyle|Guilf.]] }}

'''''Pheladenia deformis''''', commonly known as '''blue fairy orchid''' or '''blue beard''' is the only species of the [[flowering plant]] [[genus]] ''Pheladenia'' in the orchid family, [[Orchidaceae]] and is [[Endemism|endemic]] to [[Australia]]. It was originally named as ''Caladenia deformis'' and has since had several name changes. Plants have a single, narrow, hairy leaf and usually blue flowers with relatively short, broad sepals and petals and an unusual [[Labellum (botany)|labellum]].[[File:Pheladenia deformis 02.jpg|thumb|225px|''Pheladenia deformis'' labellum detail]]

==Description== ''Pheladenia deformis'' is a terrestrial, [[Perennial plant|perennial]], [[deciduous]], [[sympodial]] herb with a few inconspicuous, fine roots and a [[tuber]] partly surrounded by a fibrous [[Tunica (biology)|sheath]]. The tuber produces two "droppers" which become daughter tubers in the following year. There is a single hairy [[Convolute (botany)|convolute]] leaf at the base of the plant. The leaf is linear, {{convert|3-10|cm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} long and {{convert|2-5|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} wide with a few hairs, especially on the edges, about {{convert|1|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} long.<ref name="Hoffman">{{cite book|last1=Hoffman|first1=Noel|last2=Brown|first2=Andrew|title=Orchids of South-West Australia.|date=2011|publisher=Noel Hoffman|location=Gooseberry Hill|isbn=9780646562322|pages=203–205|edition=3rd}}</ref><ref name="RBGS">{{cite web|last1=Bernhardt|first1=Peter|title=''Pheladenia deformis''|url=http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Pheladenia~deformis|publisher=Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney: plantnet|accessdate=24 June 2016}}</ref><ref name="Yarra">{{cite web|title=''Pheladenia deformis''|url=http://fe.yarraranges.vic.gov.au/Residents/Trees_Vegetation/Yarra_Ranges_Plant_Directory/Yarra_Ranges_Local_Plant_Directory/Lower_Storey/Orchids/Pheladenia_deformis|publisher=Yarra Ranges Shire Council|accessdate=24 June 2016}}</ref>

There is usually a single flower on a stem {{convert|5-15|cm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} high. The three [[sepal]]s and two [[wikt:lateral|lateral]] [[petal]]s are {{convert|14-20|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} long, {{convert|3-5|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} wide. The outer surface usually has a few [[Gland (botany)|glandular]] hairs and the inner surface is bright blue, or sometimes white, pinkish or yellow. As is usual in orchids, one petal is highly modified as the central labellum. The labellum is dark blue near its tip, white near the base, {{convert|10-14|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} long, {{convert|4-6|mm|in|sigfig=2|abbr=on}} wide. The edge of the labellum is fringed and there are many stalked [[Labellum (botany)|calli]], giving rise to the name blue beard . The [[Column (botany)|column]] is {{convert|7-10|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} long, {{convert|3-4|mm|in|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} wide.<ref name="Hoffman" /><ref name="RBGS" /><ref name="Yarra" />

==Taxonomy and naming== This species was first formally described in 1810 by [[Robert Brown (Scottish botanist from Montrose)|Robert Brown]] who gave it the name ''Caladenia deformis''. The description was published in ''[[Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae et Insulae Van Diemen|Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae]]'' from a specimen collected at "Port Dalrymple", now [[George Town, Tasmania|George Town]] in [[Tasmania]].<ref name=APNI(1)>{{cite web|title=''Caladenia deformis''|url= https://biodiversity.org.au/nsl/services/instance/apni/512999|publisher=APNI|accessdate=24 June 2016}}</ref><ref name="R.Br.">{{cite book|last1=Brown|first1=Robert|title=Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae|date=1810|location=London|page=324|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/21871#page/192/mode/1up|accessdate=24 June 2016}}</ref>

In 2000, [[Stephen Hopper]] and [[Andrew Phillip Brown|Andrew Brown]] changed the name to ''Cyanicula deformis''<ref name=APNI(2)>{{cite web|title=''Cyanicula deformis''|url= https://biodiversity.org.au/nsl/services/instance/apni/574724|publisher=APNI|accessdate=24 June 2016}}</ref> and in 2001, [[David Lloyd Jones (botanist)|David Jones]] and [[Mark Alwin Clements|Mark Clements]] changed it to the present name.<ref name=APNI>{{cite web|title=''Pheladenia deformis''|url= https://biodiversity.org.au/nsl/services/instance/apni/575418|publisher=APNI|accessdate=24 June 2016}}</ref>

The genus name (''Pheladenia'') is from the [[Ancient Greek]] words ''phelos'' meaning "deceitful"<ref name="RWB">{{cite book|last1=Brown|first1=Roland Wilbur|title=The Composition of Scientific Words|date=1956|publisher=Smithsonian Institution Press|location=Washington, D.C.}}</ref>{{rp|602}} and ''aden'' meaning "gland",<ref name="RWB" />{{rp|369}} hence "false gland, alluding to the distinctive labellum call".<ref name=APNI(3)>{{cite web|title=''Pheladenia''|url= https://id.biodiversity.org.au/instance/apni/786817|publisher=APNI|accessdate=8 September 2016}}</ref> The [[Botanical name|specific epithet]] (''deformis'') is a [[Latin]] word meaning "misshapen",<ref name="RWB" />{{rp|319}} again referring to the unusual labellum.

==Distribution and habitat== Blue fairy orchid grows in a variety of habitats, from the margins of swamps to [[granite]] outcrops, heath, woodland and forest. It occurs in all states of Australia except [[Queensland]] and the [[Northern Territory]]. In Western Australia it is found from north of [[Kalbarri, Western Australia|Kalbarri]] to as far east as [[Israelite Bay, Western Australia|Israelite Bay]] on the south coast. In New South Wales it is uncommon but sometimes forms clumps on the Central West Slopes and South West Plains south from [[Molong]].<ref name="RBGS" /><ref name=FloraBase>{{FloraBase|name=''Pheladenia deformis''|id=20460}}</ref>

==Conservation status== ''Pheladenia deformis'' is classified as "not threatened" in Western Australia, by the Western Australian Government [[Department of Parks and Wildlife (Western Australia)|Department of Parks and Wildlife]].<ref name="FloraBase" />

==See also== * [[List of Orchidaceae genera]]

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== {{Commons}} *[http://esperancewildflowers.blogspot.com/2008/07/blue-fairies-pheladenia-deformis.html Esperance wildflowers, Blue Fairies - ''Pheladenia deformis'' ] *[http://bie.ala.org.au/species/urn:lsid:biodiversity.org.au:apni.taxon:696837 Atlas of Living Australia, ''Pheladenia'' D.L.Jones & M.A.Clem., Blue Fairy Orchid] *[http://www.retiredaussies.com/ColinsHome%20Page/Orchids/Pheladenia/Pheladenia%20deformis2007%20Bluebeard%20Caladenia.htm Retired Aussies, ''Pheladenia deformis'', Bluebeard Caladenia, Blue Fairies]

[[Category:Monotypic Orchidoideae genera]] [[Category:Caladeniinae]] [[Category:Diurideae genera]] [[Category:Plants described in 1810]] [[Category:Taxa named by Robert Brown (botanist, born 1773)]] [[Category:Flora of New South Wales]] [[Category:Flora of South Australia]] [[Category:Flora of Tasmania]] [[Category:Flora of Victoria (state)]] [[Category:Flora of Western Australia]]