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Disperis togoensis Schltr., Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 38: 2 (1905).
Heterotypic Synonyms:
Disperis atacorensis A.Chev., Explor. Bot. Afrique Occ. Franç. 1: 622 (1920), nom. nud.
Disperis cordata Summerh., Bull. Misc. Inform. Kew 1933: 252 (1933), nom. illeg.
Disperis cardiopetala Summerh., Hooker's Icon. Pl. 33: t. 3270 (1935).
Description:
Tubers 0.7-1.5 cm long, 0.4-0.7 cm in diameter, ovoid to ellipsoid, woolly. Stem 5-15 cm tall, erect, glabrous. Leaves 1-3, 0.6-3.5 cm long, 0.5-2 cm wide, alternate, sessile, ovate, cordate to almost round, obtuse to acute, mostly crimson-purplish beneath, dark green with white venation on upper surface. Inflorescence 1-10-flowered, lax. Flowers small, pink or pale mauve-pink with darker lines. Floral bract 8-16 mm long, ovate to oblong-ovate, acute. Ovary 9-12 mm long, sessile, slender cylindrical, erect. Hood up to 10 mm long and 7 mm wide, ovate in general outline with cordate base, subacute, widest near the base, strongly arcuate, shallowly concave. Dorsal sepal 7-8.5 mm long, 0.5-1.1 mm wide, linear-lanceolate, distinctly shorter than petals. Petals 7-10 mm long, 2-3.5 mm wide, obliquely ovate, half-cordate at the base, acute. Lateral sepals 8-11 mm long, 4-5.2 mm wide, obliquely ovate-lanceolate, slightly sigmoid at the apex, subacute, joined together in the basal quarter to half of their length, bearing small sacs to 0.5 mm long near the middle at the inner margins. Lip 4.5-5 mm long in total, claw 2 mm long, linear, sharply bent back at the base and there with two diverging, papillate lobes, 1.2 mm long, 0.6 mm wide, claw terminating by the limb 1.2-2 mm long and 1.8-2.3 mm wide, transversely elliptic to round, bearing a perpendicular, elliptic, papillate keel in the centre.
Habitat:
Savanna and Hyparrhenia spp., An-dropogon spp. and Themeda spp. grasslands.
Phenology:
Flowering from February to August.
Cultivation:
As given for the genus, warm to cool growing terrestrial.
Distribution:
Ghana, Togo, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo (Zaire), Uganda, Tanzania. Alt. 140-1200 m.
References:
Orchidaceae of West-central Africa, vol. 1, Gdansk University Press Gdansk 2010; Flora of Tropical East Africa Vol 1 Summerhayes 1968; A synopsis of the genus Disperis Sw. (Orchidaceae), ADANSONIA, sér. 3 - 2005 - 27 (2) : 155-207
Images:
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Habitat/In situ	Habitat/In situ	Habitat/In situ	Habitat/In situ
Photograph© Biodiversity and Landscape Unit. Image used with kind permission.	Photograph© Biodiversity and Landscape Unit. Image used with kind permission.	Photograph© Biodiversity and Landscape Unit. Image used with kind permission.	Photograph© Biodiversity and Landscape Unit. Image used with kind permission.