Caleana parvula
Caleana parvula, commonly known as the Esperance duck orchid is a species of orchid endemic to a small area near Esperance in the south-west of Western Australia. It has a single smooth leaf and usually only a single greenish yellow and red flower. It is distinguished by its small flower with the calli only on the outer one-fifth of the labellum. The only other "Caleana" species in Western Australia which is smaller is "C. lyonsii". Description. "Caleana labellum" has a single smooth, dull green or dull red leaf, long, wide and usually withered by flowering time . Usually only one greenish-yellow and red flower, long and wide is borne on a thin, wiry stalk high. The dorsal sepal, lateral sepals and petals are narrow and hang downwards with the dorsal sepal pressed against the column which has broad wings, forming a bucket-like shape. About one fifth of the outer part of the labellum is covered with glossy black glands or calli and the labellum flattened. Flowering occurs in October and November. Taxonomy and naming. The Esperance duck orchid was first formally described in 2006 by Stephen Hopper and Andrew Brown who gave it the name  Paracaleana parvula. The description was published in "Australian Systematic Botany" from a specimen collected in the Cape Arid National Park. In 2014, based on molecular studies, Joseph Miller and Mark Clements transferred all the species previously in "Paracaleana" to "Caleana" so that the present species became "Caleana parvula". The specific epithet ("parvula") is the diminutive form of the Latin word "parvus" meaning "little" hence "rather little", referring to the small size of the flower compared to others in the genus. Distribution and habitat. "Caleana parvula" grows in sandy soil in shrubland between Condingup and Israelite Bay in the Esperance Plains  biogeographic region. Conservation. "Caleana parvula" (as "Paracaleana parvula") is classified as "Priority Two" by the Western Australian Government Department of Parks and Wildlife meaning that it is poorly known and from only one or a few locations.