Caladenia argocalla

Regional Species Conservation Assessments per IBRA subregion.

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Near threatened

Rare

Vulnerable

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Extinct

Data deficient

Adelaide

Arkaroola

Ceduna

Coober Pedy

Hawker

Innamincka

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Caladenia from the Greek 'kallos' meaning beauty and 'aden' meaning a gland, referring to the colourful labellum and the glistening glands at the base of the column that are present in many of the species. Argocalla from the Greek 'argos' meaning white and 'kallos' meaning beautiful, referring to its flower.

Endemic to South Australia and restricted to the Mount Lofty Ranges, growing on hills and slopes in eucalyptus and Allocasuarina verticillata open woodland with a herbaceous understorey. Native. Endangered in South Australia. Endangered in Australia (EPBC Act).
Herbarium regions: Northern Lofty, Murray, Southern Lofty, Green Adelaide
NRM region: Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges
AVH map: SA distribution map (external link)

Annual herb growing from an underground tuber, with a single dull green, hairy, linear to narrow lance-shaped leaf to 220 mm long and 18 mm wide appearing in April or May. Leaves or flowers do not appear every year. Inflorescence on a long slender stalk to 60 cm high with one, (sometimes two) white to greenish-white flowers. Perianth segments are white to greenish-white with narrow, dark central stripes. Petals and lateral sepals are spreading then drooping, with the dorsal sepal incurved. Petals with dark-red, glandular filiform tips that are not perfumed. The labellum is ovate-cordate and strongly recurved. The lamina is white-green or crimson, margins fringed with teeth and 6 to 8 rows of crimson, red or white club-shaped calli extending nearly to apex in the middle. Flowering between September and October. Fruits are pale-brown hairy, papery ellipsoid capsule containing numerous tiny seeds.

Collect seeds between October and November. Collect fat capsules as they start to dry and turn brown. Pods will split and release the seeds quickly and will require monitoring. To increase the chances of collecting mature pods, it is recommended that a small breathable bag (ie. Organza bags) be used to enclose the developing capsules. Place the capsules in a container that will hold fine seeds and leave to dry for a few weeks or until the capsule split. Then carefully hold the capsule and tap it gently to release the seeds. Store the seeds with a desiccant such as dried silica beads or dry rice, in an air tight container in a cool and dry place, refrigerator or in liquid nitrogen.

Location	No. of seeds (weight grams)	Number of plants	Date collected	Collection number Collection location	Date stored	% Viability	Storage temperature
			1-05-20	J. Quarmby Northern Lofty	1-Nov-2016	N/C	-80°C
			30-Nov-2007	J. Quarmby Murray	1-Nov-2016	N/C	-80°C
			15-Nov-2007	J. Quarmby Northern Lofty	1-Nov-2016	N/C	-80°C
			15-Nov-2007	J. Quarmby Northern Lofty	1-Nov-2016	N/C	-80°C
			13-Dec-2005	D. Kilpin Murray	1-Nov-2016	N/C	-80°C
BGA	33,000 (0.012 g)	1	12-Nov-2012	Erica Rees1 Northern Lofty	1-Nov-2016	70%	-80°C
BGA	115,000 (0.0424 g)	4	5-Nov-2015	D. Kilpin Northern Lofty	1-Nov-2016	85%	-80°C
BGA	650,000 (0.235 g)	16 pods		K. Brewer Northern Lofty	1-Nov-2016	85%	-80°C
BGA	70,000 (0.025 g)	2 pods		K. Brewer Northern Lofty	1-Nov-2016	80%	-80°C
BGA	77,000 (0.0117 g)	1		Clare Northern Lofty	1-Nov-2016	66%	-80°C
			13-Dec-2005	D. Kilpin Murray	1-Nov-2016	N/C	-80°C
BGA	690,000 (0.248 g)	20+	6-Oct-2014	KHB843 Northern Lofty	1-Nov-2016	80%	-80°C
			1-05-20	J. Quarmby Northern Lofty	1-Nov-2016	N/C	-80°C
			5-Dec-2005	J. Quarmby Northern Lofty	1-Nov-2016	N/C	-80°C
			1-05-20	J. Quarmby Northern Lofty	1-Nov-2016	N/C	-80°C
			28-Nov-2001	D. Bickerton Northern Lofty	1-Nov-2016	N/C	-80°C
			1-05-20	J. Quarmby Northern Lofty	1-Nov-2016	N/C	-80°C
			1-05-20	J. Quarmby Northern Lofty	1-Nov-2016	N/C	-80°C
			1-05-20	J. Quarmby Northern Lofty	1-Nov-2016	N/C	-80°C
			1-05-20	J. Quarmby Northern Lofty	1-Nov-2016	N/C	-80°C
BGA	539,000 (0.199 g)	17	1-Dec-2016	Kaiser Stuhl Murray	1-Nov-2017	N/C	-80°C
BGA	280,100 (0.1 g)	12	22-Nov-2017	D. Kilpin Northern Lofty	30-Jun-2018	N/C	-18°C
BGA	44,800 (0.016 g)	2	23-Nov-2017	Amanda Pearce Southern Lofty	30-Jun-2018	N/C	-18°C
BGA	8,600 (0.0033 g)	1	17-Nov-2018	J.J.Smith Southern Lofty	24-Apr-2019	N/C	-18°C
BGA	270,600 (0.097 g)	7	14-Nov-2018	D.Kilpin's Property Murray	24-Apr-2019	N/C	-18°C
BGA	53,000 (0.019 g)	2	1-Nov-2019	K.H.Brewer Southern Lofty	24-Jun-2020	N/C	-18°C
BGA	15,000 (0.0055 g)	1	14-Nov-2019	Deep Creek Southern Lofty	24-Jun-2020	N/C	-18°C
BGA	742,500 (0.26 g)	6	22-Oct-2018	D.Kilpin's Property Murray	24-Jun-2020		-18°C
BGA	47,000 (0.02 g)	3	19-Nov-2019	Altman Road Southern Lofty	24-Jun-2020	N/C	-18°C
BGA	462,000 (0.17 g)	16	19-Nov-2019	D.Kilpin Murray	24-Jun-2020	N/C	-18°C
BGA	784,000 (0.28 g)	17	7-Nov-2019	D.Kilpin's property Murray	24-Jun-2020	N/C	-18°C, -80°C
			30-Nov-2007	J. Quarmby Murray	24-Jun-2020	N/C	-80°C
BGA	308,000 (0.11 g)	13	19-Nov-2019	Kaiser Stuhl CP Murray	24-Jun-2020	N/C	-18°C
BGA	28,000 (0.01 g)	1	21-Nov-2019	R.Lawrence Southern Lofty	24-Jun-2020	N/C	-18°C
BGA	70,000 (0.025 g)	4	19-Nov-2019	Roesslers, Springton Murray	24-Jun-2020	N/C	-18°C

Location: BGA — the seeds are stored at the Adelaide Botanic Gardens, MSB — the seeds are stored at the Millennium Seed Bank, Kew, England.
Number of plants: This is the number of plants from which the seeds were collected.
Collection location: The Herbarium of South Australia's region name.
% Viability: Percentage of filled healthy seeds determined by a cut test or x-ray.

Fleurieu (KAN02)	Kanmantoo	Critically Endangered (IUCN: CR B2ab(i,ii,iii,iv,v); D) (Definite Decline) [~15 - 20 plants; no viable pops here; very fragmented; could become extinct in next 20 yrs]
Mount Lofty Ranges (FLB01)	Flinders Lofty Block	Endangered (IUCN: EN B2ab(i,ii,iii,iv,v); D) (Definite Decline) [only 1 large pop (150 tubers) in MLR, stronghold in Clare Valley; needs a large pop to remain viable]
Broughton (FLB02)		Critically Endangered (IUCN: CR B1ab(i,iii,iv)) (Definite Decline) [Disappeared from Nuriootpa & Kapunda. Fluctuation of flowers. Restrictive population, Clare pop most viable. Emu Flat not viable. Weed invasion biggest threat. ]