Home

Disperis tysonii Bolus, J. Linn. Soc., Bot. 22: 79 (1885).
Heterotypic Synonyms:
Disperis bicolor Rolfe in W.H.Harvey & auct. suc. (eds.), Fl. Cap. 5(3): 300 (1913).
Disperis kermesina Rolfe in W.H.Harvey & auct. suc. (eds.), Fl. Cap. 5(3): 297 (1913).
Description:
Plants mostly 200-400 mm; leaves 4 (-5), cauline, alternate, ovate to lanceolate, acute, usually 15-30 x 5-8 mm. Inflorescences secund, (1-) 5-20-flowered; bracts ovate to lanceolate, acute, 6-22 (-30) x 3-10. Flowers: sepals pink, petals magenta, spotted with green within, lip green; ovary cylindrical, 10 mm long; scent sweet. Median sepal ovate, 5-6 x 3-4 mm, with a sac-like hood 4-5 (-7) mm deep; lateral sepals obovate, acuminate, 6-8 x 2.5-3 mm, spurs to 0.5 mm deep. Petals ad-nate to the median sepal, curved, falcate, clawed, ovate, acute, 4-6 x 2-2.5 mm. Lip basally fused to the gynostemium; claw 3 mm long; blade erect, blocking the mouth of the median sepal, broadly ovate to triangular, apex acute and adhering to the tips of the petals and median sepal, verrucose, 4 x 2 mm; appendage horizontal, linear, pubescent, 5 mm long. Anther horizontal; stigma dorsal, lobes diverging; rostellum arms bulbous at the base, incurled, 0.75 mm long
Habitat:
Occasional at high altitudes in the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Lesotho, Swaziland and Mpumalanga; on damp grassy slopes, often on sandstone or quartzite, from 1200 to 3050 m.
Phenology:
Flowering from (December-) February to March (-April).
Notes:
The species is pollinated by the oil-collecting bees Rediviva ‘brunnea’ and R. neliana (Steiner 1989).
Cultivation:
As given for the genus.
Distribution:
S. Africa
References:
A synopsis of the genus Disperis Sw. (Orchidaceae), ADANSONIA, sér. 3 - 2005 - 27 (2) : 155-207; Orchids of Southern Africa by H. P. Linder; H. Kurzweil Published by A.A. Balkema, Rotterdam (1999)
Images:
Click on each image to see a larger version.

Habitat/In situ	Habitat/In situ	Habitat/In situ	Habitat/In situ	Habitat/In situ	Habitat/In situ	Habitat/In situ
Photograph© Cameron McMaster. Image used with kind permission.	Photograph© Cameron McMaster. Image used with kind permission.	Photograph© Cameron McMaster. Image used with kind permission.	Photograph© Cameron McMaster. Image used with kind permission.	Photograph© Cameron McMaster. Image used with kind permission.	Photograph© Cameron McMaster. Image used with kind permission.	Photograph© Cameron McMaster. Image used with kind permission.