Caladenia thysanochila G.W.Carr (1991:16)
Fringed spider-orchid
Taxonomy & Nomenclature
Synonym/s: Arachnorchis thysanochila (G.W.Carr) D.L.Jones & M.A.Clem. in Orchadian 13: 400 (2001)
Conservation Status
Missing (Backhouse et al., 2016:11 [as "probably extinct"]) or Extinct (Backhouse & Cameron, 2005:63; DEPI, 2014; Albani Rocchetti et al., 2022; DEECA, 2023; VicFlora, 2025), but taxonomically suspect (Silcock et al., 2019:SM:1)
Last (and only) record(disputed): 1988 (VicFlora, 2025); 1991 (Silcock et al., 2019:SM:1)
"Described based on two plants, only ever seen once and a single specimen lodged"
(Silcock et al., 2019:SM:1)
Distribution & Habitat
near Mt Eliza, Victoria, Australia
Biology & Ecology
Hypodigm
Media
References
Original scientific description:
Carr, G. W. (1991). New taxa in Caladenia R.Br., Chiloglottis R.Br. and Gastrodia R.Br. (Orchidaceae) from south eastern Australia. Indigenous Flora & Fauna Association Miscellaneous Papers. 1. Melbourne: Indigenous Flora & Fauna Association.
Other references:
Albani Rocchetti, Giulia, Carta, Angelino, Mondoni, Andrea, Godefroid, Sandrine, Davis, Charles C., Caneva, Giulia, Albrecht, Matthew A., Alvarado, Karla, Bijmoer, Roxali, Borosova, Renata, Bräuchler, Christian, Breman, Elinor, Briggs, Marie, Buord, Stephane, Cave, Lynette H., Da Silva, Nílber Gonçalves, Davey, Alexandra H., Davies, Rachael M., Dickie, John B., Fabillo, Melodina, Fleischmann, Andreas, Franks, Andrew, Hall, Geoffrey, Kantvilas, Gintaras, Klak, Cornelia, Liu, Udayangani, Medina, Leopoldo, Reinhammar, Lars Gunnar, Sebola, Ramagwai J., Schönberger, Ines, Sweeney, Patrick, Voglmayr, Hermann, White, Adam, Wieringa, Jan J., Zippel, Elke Zippel and Abeli, Thomas. (2022). Selecting the best candidates for resurrecting extinct-in-the-wild plants from herbaria. Nature Plants 8: 1385-1393. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41477-022-01296-7 [Supplementary Tables S1-S6]
Backhouse, Gary N., Bates, Robert J., Brown, Andrew P. and Copeland, Lachlan M. (2016). Checklist of the Orchids of Australia Including its Island Territories. Version 1. Unpublished. 139 pp.
Backhouse, Gary N., Bates, Robert J., Brown, Andrew P. and Copeland, Lachlan M. (2019). Checklist of the Orchids of Australia Including its Island Territories, second edition. Melbourne. 148 pp.
Backhouse, Gary and Cameron, David. (2005). Application of IUCN 2001 Red List Categories in Determining the Conservation Status of Native Orchids of Victoria, Australia. Selbyana 26(1-2), Proceedings of the Second International Orchid Conservation Congress (2005), pp. 58-74. https://www.jstor.org/stable/41760174
DEECA [Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action]. (2023). Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988 Threatened List: June 2023. Published report by The State of Victoria Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action, Melbourne, Victoria.
Department of the Environment. (2016). Caladenia thysanochila in Species Profile and Threats Database, Department of the Environment, Canberra. Available from: https://www.environment.gov.au/sprat. Accessed Fri, 16 Sep 2016 19:23:47 +1000.
DEPI (Department of Environment and Primary Industries). (2014). Advisory list of rare of threatened plants in Victoria - 2014. Melbourne, VIC: Department of Environment and Primary Industries.
Entwisle, T. J. (1994). Orchidaceae, pp. 740-901. In: Walsh, N. G. and Entwisle, T. J. (eds.). Flora of Victoria Vol. 2, Ferns and Allied Plants, Conifers and Monocotyledons. Melbourne, VIC: Inkata Press.
Govaerts, R. (1999). World Checklist of Seed Plants 3(1, 2a & 2b): 1-1532. MIM, Deurne.
Govaerts, R. (2003). World Checklist of Monocotyledons Database in ACCESS: 1-71827. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
Jones, D. L., Clements, M. A., Sharma, I. K. and McKenzie, A. M. (2001). A new classification of Caladenia R.Br. (Orchidaceae). The Orchadian 13(9): 389-417.
POWO. (2025). Plants of the World Online (online resource). Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, United Kingdom. Available at: https://powo.science.kew.org/ [Accessed 3 August 2025]
Silcock, Jen L., Field, Ashley R., Walsh, Neville G. and Fensham, Roderick J. (2019). To name those lost: assessing extinction likelihood in the Australian vascular flora. Oryx 54(2): 167-177. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0030605318001357 [Supplementary Material]
VicFlora. (2025). Flora of Victoria, Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. Available online: https://vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au [accessed on 2 August 2025]
Walter, Kerry S. and Gillett, Harriet J. (eds.). (1998). 1997 IUCN Red List of Threatened Plants. Compiled by the World Conservation Monitoring Centre. Gland, Switzerland & Cambridge, UK: IUCN – The World Conservation Union. lxiv + 862 pp.
Woinarski, John C. Z., Braby, M. F., Burbidge, A. A., Coates, D., Garnett, S. T., Fensham, R. J., Legge, S. M., McKenzie, N. L., Silcock, J. L. and Murphy, B. P. (2019). Reading the black book: The number, timing, distribution and causes of listed extinctions in Australia. Biological Conservation 239: 108261. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2019.108261