Pterygodium vermiferum E.G.H.Oliv. & Liltved, S. African J. Bot. 74: 617 (2008).
Description:
Plants herbaceous (110)–140–(170) mm tall, erect, glabrous. Leaves 1–3, lowermost basal, prostrate, 40–90×20–40 mm, lanceolate to ovate, acute, loosely sheathing at base, often dry and brown at flowering, upper (1)2 leaves cauline, suberect or spreading, 20–60 mm long, narrowly lanceolate, attenuate, with sheathing base. Inflorescence a moderately dense, cylindrical spike 60–80 mm long, (7–)12–17(–27)-flowered; bracts, deflexed with apex slightly spreading, narrowly deltoid to lanceolate, ±1.2×3.5 mm, acute-apiculate, basally slightly naviculate. Flowers resupinated, suberect, occasionally remaining budlike with small basal opening from which lip apex protrudes, green to yellowish green becoming yellow. Median sepal arching forwards and forming galea with lateral petals, slightly arcuate, obovate-oblong, ±5×3 mm, obtuse to truncate, cucullate, galea broadly to very broadly ovate in abaxial outline, ± 4×4–6 mm, shallowly to deeply cucullate. Lateral sepals subpatent to incurved-patent in fully open flowers, broadly ovate-falcate, ± 4×3.5–4 mm, subacute, shallowly cucullate inlower half, lower edge of distal half slightly incurved. Petals adnate to posterior sepal, obliquely ovate-oblong, arcuate, ± 5×2.5 mm, upper anterior margin slightly folded inwards, obtuse, sometimes slightly notched below apex. Lip deltate to broadly Y-shaped with lateral flanges, at first patent with anterior point pendulous, ±5×4 mm, often white; callosities 2, lateral on adaxial surface of each of lateral lip lobes, v-shaped, appressed to lip blade, not extending beyond lip. Lip appendage erect, in fully opened flowers shortly included within galea or partially exserted, narrowly and unequally funnel-shaped, sometimes slightly complanate, 2.5–4 mm long, anterior edge crenate or shallowly to deeply and widely v-shaped, with anterior and posterior ridges running down inner surface, posterior ridge sometimes forming slightly exserted process. Anthers lateral, subinverted, placed immediately above stigmas, ± 2 mm long, obovoid; viscidia absent; anther connective ± 2×3.7 mm, transversely broadly elliptic, wrapping around inside posterior of galea; massulae loosely aggregated, not bound into pollinaria. Rostellum arms a small semicircular horizontal ridge adnate to anterior side of anther connective, with 4–6 simple or branched, cylindrical to subcylindrical and flattened outgrowths in front of anthers and stigma, outgrowths variously twisted, protruding forwards or sometimes curving backwards into galea. Stigmas 2, cushion-like, situated on either side of and just posterior to base of lip appendage and sometimes extending onto rostellum arms and appendages. Ovary ellipsoid, ±8×2.5 mm. Capsule ovoid to ellipsoid, 7–9 mm long; seeds fusiform, 0.7–0.9 mm long.
Habitat:
The populations at the type locality occur in the greyish, fine, sandy soil associated with the coastal limestone formations that are dominant in the area.
Etymology:
The species is named vermiferum on account of the extraordinary, wormlike outgrowths of the rostellum, vermes= worm, -ferus=bearing.
Distribution:
SW. Cape Prov.
