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Huttonaea grandiflora (Schltr.) Rolfe in W.H.Harvey & auct. suc. (eds.), Fl. Cap. 5(3): 114 (1912).
Homotypic Synonyms:
Huttonaea oreophila var. grandiflora Schltr., Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 24: 420 (1897).
Description:
Plant 6–8 in. high, erect, with somewhat slender flexuous stem, distantly 2-leaved; leaves sessile, ovate or cordate-ovate, acute, glabrous, submembranous, 1/2–1 1/4 in. long, 1/3–1 in. broad; raceme very short, 2–4-flowered; bracts ovate, acute, 4–5 lin. long; pedicels about 1/4 in. long; dorsal sepal ovate-oblong, obtuse, fimbriate, 2 lin. long; lateral sepals oblique and very broadly ovate, obtuse, much fimbriate, 3–4 lin. long; petals unguiculate, somewhat diverging, broadly dilated above, deeply and compoundly fimbriate, 5–6 lin. long by about as broad, obtusely saccate at the base of the limb, claws rather shorter than the limb and connate to about the middle; lip with a short broad claw and a much dilated limb, 6–8 lin. broad by nearly as long, deeply and compoundly fimbriate; column strongly incurved, 2 lin. long.
Etymology:
The specific name, grandiflora, means that the flowers are larger than normal. "Normal" here probably means the typical flower size achieved in the (other four) small-flowered members of the genus.
Habitat:
In grasslands on steep slopes or rock crevasses at elevations of 2300 to 2900 meters in full sun.
Flower date:
Flowering happens late in summer and early in autumn
Distribution:
S. Africa (Drakensberg)
References:
Wild Orchids of Southern Africa Stewart, Linder, Schelpe & Hall 1982; Orchids of Southern Africa Linder & Kurzweil 1999; Genera Orchidacearum Vol 2 Part One Pridgeon, Cribb, Chase and Rasmussen 2001
Images:
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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.	Photograph© Cameron McMaster. Image used with kind permission.	Photograph© Cameron McMaster. Image used with kind permission.