White caladenia, white fingers, lady’s fingers

This deciduous terrestrial orchid grows in open eucalyptus forest where the grass is sparse.

The single leaf is grasslike to 15 cm by 4 mm, but is differentiated from grass as it is quite soft. The flower stem grows to about 30 cm holding one or sometimes two flowers. The flower grows to about 25 mm across and is generally white, but often with various shades of pink colouring to solid pink, often with a golden tip to the labellum.

This flower is similar to Caladenia carnea but does not have the barring on the labellum or column. In addition, the column of Caladenia catenata reclines virtually starting horizontal before bending vertical, whereas the Caladenia carnea column starts at about a 45 degrees before bending vertical.

Caladenia carnea and Caladenia catenata will hybridise where they occur together creating a confusing blend making identification difficult.