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Glite Dictionary
Caladenia cairnsiana

Caladenia cairnsiana

9.9
A kind of orchid from southwestern Australia with pale yellow flowers marked with purple and a deep red lip
  • noun
  • Australian
translation icon : Caladenia cairnsiana
  • The rare Caladenia cairnsiana blooms in the woodlands of southwestern Australia during late spring.

Examples

  • We spotted a stunning Caladenia cairnsiana with its bright lip and delicate petals along the hiking trail.

  • Botanists studied the pollination strategy of Caladenia cairnsiana to better understand native orchid adaptations.

  • Look at that stunning Caladenia cairnsiana in the garden!

  • The Caladenia cairnsiana blooms beautifully in spring.

  • The rare Caladenia cairnsiana blooms in the woodlands of southwestern Australia during late spring.

  • We spotted a stunning Caladenia cairnsiana with its bright lip and delicate petals along the hiking trail.

  • Botanists studied the pollination strategy of Caladenia cairnsiana to better understand native orchid adaptations.

Synonyms

zebra orchid
vsCaladenia cairnsiana
  • Australian
9.9

A small Australian orchid with pale yellow flowers marked with purple and a deep red lip

is the formal scientific name rather than the common name

Surface Forms

Caladenia cairnsiana singular
Caladenia cairnsianas plural

Morphology

Caladenia + cairnsiana

This is a binomial Latin species name: knowing 'Caladenia' (an orchid genus) lets a learner infer the phrase refers to a particular orchid, so part of the meaning (that it is an orchid species) is predictable. However, 'cairnsiana' is a specific epithet with no transparent lexical meaning for learners (likely commemorative or language-specific), so the detailed sense (appearance, distribution) cannot be derived from the parts.

Etymology

Caladenia cairnsiana gets its name from ancient Greek and a person's name: the genus Caladenia comes from Greek words calos ('beautiful') and aden ('gland') for the small shiny parts on the flower, and cairnsiana honours the collector 'Cairns', so the name points to the orchid's pretty parts and the person linked to its discovery.