Satyrium retusum Lindl., Gen. Sp. Orchid. Pl.: 343 (1838).
Heterotypic Synonyms:
Satyrium bracteatum Lindl., Gen. Sp. Orchid. Pl.: 342 (1838), nom. illeg.
Satyrium lindleyanum Bolus, J. Linn. Soc., Bot. 20: 474 (1884).
Satyrium debile Bolus, J. Linn. Soc., Bot. 22: 67 (1885).
Description:
Plants slender, erect, (4-) 8-15 (-31) cm high, the stems sometimes minutely papillose and slightly viscous. Leaves basal, 1 -2, broadly ovate, 7-60 mm long, spreading. Sheaths 2-5, becoming gradually narrower and shorter than the leaves, with the uppermost partly spreading from a very short sheathing base. Inflorescence mostly elongate and many-flowered, 2-14 cm long, with 5-60 flowers. Perianth greenish to yellowish white with deep red lines inside the labellum and green to reddish-brown tinges on the spurs. Scent sweetish, faint to pungent. Bracts narrowly ovate, acuminate, spreading about 60° - 90° from the stem above, 2-4 times the length of the 4-7 mm ovary. Sepals 1 -4 mm long, the lateral pair spreading widely from the side of the labellum aperture, lanceolate to ovate, the odd sepal projecting forward with its margins deflexed.Petals narrowly lanceolate, projecting forward, about as long as the odd sepal. Labellum 2-4 mm long, forming a shallow hood over the column, the broad opening with the sides partly formed by the adnate lateral sepals, obtuse with a small distal outer keel. Labellum-spurs variable, 0.3-2.7 mm long, saccate to clavate and curved. Column base short, 0,3-0,9 mm long. Stigma pulvinate, about 0,5 mm long, transversely obovate. Rostellum about 0,3 mm long, very broadly oblong with a short, fleshy keel, emarginate, with the discoid anther-glands borne on the two lateral apices. Anther-sacs closely packed beneath the rostellum, the connective oblong.
Notes:
Colour of the flowers dull green with reddish tinges.
Habitat:
Flowering is mostly in the spring and early summer months of September to November, with a few cases as late as February, at altitudes from near sea-level to 1 700 metres. The species prefers acid, peaty to sandy, moist soils in Cape Fynbos vegetation. The rainfall is mostly in the winter in the west, extending to all seasons in the east. The plants appear to be more frequent locally after a fire.
Distribution:
The distribution extends about 700 km from the S.W. Cape eastwards to Port Elizabeth.
Images:
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| Botanical Drawing / Herbarium |
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| Photograph copyright Swiss Orchid Foundation at the Herbarium Jany Renz Image used with kind permission. |
