Caladenia versicolor, commonly known as the candy spider orchid, is a plant in the orchid family Orchidaceae and is endemic to Victoria. It is a ground orchid with a single, sparsely hairy leaf and one or two white, pink or purplish flowers. Only about one thousand plants in two populations have been recorded and the species has been declared as "vulnerable".
Caladenia versicolor is a terrestrial, perennial, deciduous, herb with an underground tuber and a single sparsely hairy leaf, 50âÂÂ100 mm long and 6âÂÂ8 mm wide with reddish blotches. One or two white, pink or purplish flowers 50âÂÂ60 mm wide are borne on a spike 150âÂÂ250 mm tall. The sepals and petals have blackish or brownish thread-like tips. The sepal is erect, 40âÂÂ60 mm long and 2âÂÂ3 mm wide. The sepals are 40âÂÂ60 mm long, 3âÂÂ5 mm wide and spread stiffly apart from each other. The petals are 30âÂÂ37 mm long, about 3 mm wide, and arranged like the lateral sepals. The labellum is white, pink or purplish, 12âÂÂ16 mm long and 7âÂÂ9 mm wide. The sides of the labellum have narrow teeth up to 3mm long, decreasing in length towards the tip which is curled under, and there are four or six rows of pink or purplish calli up to 1 mm long, along its centre. Flowering occurs from September to November.
Caladenia versicolor was first formally described in 1991 by Geoffrey Carr and the description was published in Indigenous Flora and Fauna Association Miscellaneous Paper 1. The specific epithet (versicolor) is a Latin word meaning "of different colours".
The candy spider orchid is only known from two populations in Victoria, south-west of Stawell where there are about 800 plants and east of Balmoral where 175 individuals were recorded in 2012. It grows in woodland.
Caladenia versicolor is classified as "endangered" under the Victorian Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988 and as "vulnerable" under the Australian Government Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. The main threats to the species are trampling, grazing by feral rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) and inappropriate fire regimes.