Disperis lindleyana Rchb.f., Flora 48: 181 (1865).
Description:
Terrestrial herb 13–30 cm tall; tubers c. 15 × 10 mm, ovoid, woolly. Leaf 1, about halfway up the stem, 1.7–7 × 1.5–4 cm, ovate, cordate at the base. Inflorescence 1–5-flowered.Flowers white tinged with green, with violet markings, aging to creamy-yellow. Ovary 20 mm long; bracts leaf-like, 10–15 mm long. Dorsal sepal 15 mm long, joined to petals to form a conical, sac-like hood 8–10 mm long from top of ovary to apex of hood. Lateral sepals spreading, 8–10 × 5–8 mm, obliquely ovate, acute, each with a sac-like spur 2 mm long. Petals 8–9 mm long, falcate-oblong, the outer margin undulate. Lip broadly unguiculate, reflexed; limb 8 mm long, broadly linear, obtuse, bearing an appendage at the point of reflexion; appendage obovate-oblong, fleshy and papillose at the apex, shorter than the limb.
Habitat:
Evergreen forest, in forest-floor leaf litter, also in pine plantations 1650–2000 m.
Phenology:
Flowering mainly in December and January.
Cultivation:
As given for the genus.
Distribution:
South Africa (Western and Eastern Cape, KwaZuluNatal, Mpumalanga, Limpopo), Swaziland and Zimbabwe.
References:
A synopsis of the genus Disperis Sw. (Orchidaceae), ADANSONIA, sér. 3 - 2005 - 27 (2) : 155-207; La Croix, I. & Cribb, P.J. (1995). Orchidaceae (Part 1) Flora Zambesiaca 11(1); 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.
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| 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. |
