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Disperis fanniniae Harv., Thes. Cap. 2: 46 (1863).
Description:
An erect slender herb, 17-34 or (fide Schlechter) up to 50 cm. high; stem straight or somewhat flexuous, with a single longitudinal line of pubescence which alternates with the leaves, distantly 3foliate, l-6 fl. at the apex, flowers among the largest in the genus; leaves spreading or ascending amplexicaul, cordate at base, ovate acuminate, usually undulate, 2-6,5 cm. long, 1-3 cm. wide; bracts leaf-like erect-spreading, the lower about equalling the ovary, the upper shorter; lateral sepals spreading then deflexed, obliquely ovate, acuminate, furnished below the middle with an obtuse sac, 0,2 cm. long, 1,2-1,4 cm. long; odd sepal galeate inflated, very obtuse at the back, acuminate, 1,2-1,7 cm. long, 0,7-1 cm. in diam.; petals clawed cucullate cuspidate-acuminate, obtusely l-2 lobed on the anterior margin, adhering to the galea by their posterior margin, 1,2 cm. long; lip erect, then horizontally incumbent over the rostellum, finally decurved and slightly incurved at the apex, 1,5 cm. long, divided almost in the middle, the lower part linear, the upper part thickened (probably forming a nectary) 3partite, anterior segment ascending subarcuate ovate lanceolate acuminate green, adhering to the apices of the sepals and petals, the posterior segments horizontal parallel linearlanceolate acute, the margins crenulate; rostellum concave, bifid at the apex, segments cucullate, the margins crenulate, 0,9 cm. long, gland-bearing arms oblong porrect-incurved; glands oblong, 0,3 cm. long; stigma bipartite.
Habitat:
In leaf litter on the forest floor or in humus on rocks, sometimes on mosscovered rocks in or next to streams, also in pine, cypress and wattle plantations, at (150-)700- 2100 m. Flowering mainly in February and March. This species is frequently found in cultivation.
Cultivation:
Disperis fanniniae comes from the summer rainfall area and has a winter rest.
Phenology:
Flowering mainly in February and March.
Cultivation:
Disperis fanniniae comes from the summer rainfall area and has a winter rest. This species is frequently found in cultivation.
Distribution:
South Africa (Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Free State, Mpumalanga, Limpopo), Lesotho and Swaziland.
References:
A synopsis of the genus Disperis Sw. (Orchidaceae), ADANSONIA, sér. 3 - 2005 - 27 (2) : 155-207; The Phylogeny and Classification of the Diseae (Orchidoideae: Orchidaceae) H. P. Linder, Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden, Vol. 81, No. 4 (1994), pp. 687-713; The phylogeny and evolution of the Pterygodium—Corycium complex (Coryciinae, Orchidaceae) H. Kurzweil, Plant Systematics and Evolution, Vol. 175, No. 3/4 (1991), pp. 161-223
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Photograph© Lourens Grobler. Image used with kind permission.	Photograph© Lourens Grobler. Image used with kind permission.	Photograph© Lourens Grobler. Image used with kind permission.	Photograph© Lourens Grobler. Image used with kind permission.	Photograph© Lourens Grobler. Image used with kind permission.	Photograph© Lourens Grobler. Image used with kind permission.	Photograph© Lourens Grobler. Image used with kind permission.	Photograph© Lourens Grobler. Image used with kind permission.