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Satyrium bracteatum (L.f.) Thunb., Prodr. Pl. Cap.: 6 (1794).
Homotypic Synonyms:
Ophrys bracteata L.f., Suppl. Pl.: 403 (1782).
Diplecthrum bracteatum (L.f.) Pers., Syn. Pl. 2: 509 (1807).
Heterotypic Synonyms:
Satyrium cordifolium Lindl., Gen. Sp. Orchid. Pl.: 344 (1838).
Satyrium lineatum Lindl., Gen. Sp. Orchid. Pl.: 343 (1838).
Satyrium pictum Lindl., Gen. Sp. Orchid. Pl.: 344 (1838).
Satyrium saxicolum Bolus, J. Linn. Soc., Bot. 20: 474 (1884).
Satyrium paludicolum Schltr., Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 20(50): 37 (1895).
Satyrium bowiei Rolfe in W.H.Harvey & auct. suc. (eds.), Fl. Cap. 5(3): 153 (1912).
Satyrium dregei Rolfe in W.H.Harvey & auct. suc. (eds.), Fl. Cap. 5(3): 153 (1912).
Satyrium fanniniae Rolfe in W.H.Harvey & auct. suc. (eds.), Fl. Cap. 5(3): 150 (1912).
Description:
Plants slender to stout, (3-) 8-16 (-33) cm high, the distal parts of the stems minutely papillose. The 3-8 leaves variable in size, the lowest ranging from longer than the stem to much shorter, 9-63 mm long. Inflorescence somewhat dense, 1-23 cm long with (1 )-4-15-(35) flowers. Perianth colours usually dull white with dark reddish brown along the main veins, rarely with transversely elongate dark spots and bars on the labellum or with the perianth entirely deep reddish-purple. Scent faint, resembling putrid meat. Bracts generally rather longer than the flower, spreading then deflexed below the galea, broadly ovate, acute to acuminate. Ovary 4-8 mm long, usually shortly papillose along the ribs, lateral sepals broadly elliptic-falcate, 4-6 mm long, fused with the bases of the petals and odd sepal to form a broad, thickened mentum; the odd sepal often shorter than the lateral, sub-truncate. Petals as long as the odd sepal, deltoid-falcate, sometimes ciliate. Labellum hemispherical, sometimes more shallow at the base, sometimes papillose, 4-10 mm long, with saccate spurs less than 1 mm long. Column base rather slender, distally curved, 2-5 mm long. Rostellum with two prominent forward-projecting arms with globose apical glands. Staminodes pulvinate, rather conspicuous. Stigma slightly longer than wide, sometimes bilobed. Anther sacs tightly packed beneath the rostellum arms, the connective deltoid.
Habitat:
The altitudinal range is from near sea level to about 800 m in the S.W. and S. Cape, and at higher altitudes to 2000 m in the E. Cape, Natal and the Transvaal. It is found in a wide variety of situations, from dry flats to wet marshy sites and peaty ledges and fissures among rocks.
Phenology:
Flowering is mostly in the early summer months from September to November, with occasional flowering in August and as late as December and January.
Notes:
Flower scent is faintly of putrid meat and plant is pollinated by small carrion flies and dung flies which search for places to lay their eggs. The pollinia are attached to the eyes and upper thorax of the flies.
Distribution:
The distribution extends from numerous localities in the S.W Cape through a narrow belt of increasingly scattered sites over a distance of 1 900 km, through the southern and eastern Cape to Natal and the eastern Transvaal escarpment.
References:
A revision of the southern African species of Satyrium. [A V Hall; Edmund A C L E Schelpe; Nicola C Anthony] 1982; Wild Orchids of Southern Africa Stewart, Linder, Schelpe & Hall 1982; Field Guide to the Orchids of Northern South Africa and Swaziland McMurty, Grobler, Grobler & Burns 2008; Orchids of Southern Africa Linder & Kurzwell 1999; Wild Orchids of Southern Africa Stewart, Linder, Schelpe & Hall 1982
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.