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Orchidaceae
Flying Duck Orchid
Caleana major
Improbable beauty.
- Family
- Orchidaceae
- Genus
- Caleana
- Native to
- Eastern and southern Australia
- Bloom season
- Spring, Early Summer
- Type
- terrestrial orchid
- Height
- 8-20 in
- Sunlight
- part shade
- Soil
- sandy, well-drained
- Water
- low
- Hardiness
- 9-10
- Lifespan
- perennial
Did you know
- The flower's labellum looks startlingly like a duck in flight — head, beak, body, and wings all visible.
- When a male sawfly lands on the labellum, the hinged structure snaps down, pressing the insect against the pollen.
- It's pollinated by sexual deception — the flower mimics the scent and shape of a female sawfly.
- It cannot be transplanted or cultivated outside its native habitat because it depends on a specific underground fungus.
- The flower appears on Australia's 75-cent stamp, issued in 1986.
Color meanings
0
wonder
1
natural mimicry