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Satyrium microrrhynchum Schltr., Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 20(50): 14 (1895).
Description:
Plants slender, (15-) 17-28 (-36) cm tall, the stems and leaves glabrous. Leaves 2-3, with 1-3 sheaths on the stem above; the longest leaf only partly spreading from the stem, elliptic to narrowly elliptic, acute, texture rather thick and smooth, the lamina 5-12 cm long. Inflorescence dense, 3-15 cm long, with 12-56 small flowers. Perianth colours pale yellowish green to dull white. Bracts lanceolate-acuminate, 1,5-3 times the length of the 5-8 mm long ovary, sharply deflexed below the galea. Perianth relatively thick-textured, with many short hairs on the basal half of the inner surfaces of the petals and Iabellum. Lateral sepals broadly elliptic-oblong, somewhat falcate, obtuse to acute, 3-5 mm long; the odd sepal almost as long, truncate to obtuse. Petals slightly shorter than the odd sepal, narrowly ovate. Labellum somewhat taller than deep, the apical flap often prominent. Spurs absent or as slight saccae at the base of the labellum. Column rather stout, the curved base 2-3 mm long. Rostellum with two very short fused arms bearing prominent discoid glands. Stigma sub-rotund, hoodshaped with the fertile surface sunk into a cavity.
Habitat:
The localities are all at high altitudes, 1 600 to 3 300 m, in the Drakensberg and nearby ranges. It is found on grassy, sometimes stony or moist slopes, with each plant usually well isolated from the others.
Phenology:
Flowering takes place in the wet, mid-summer months of January and February.
Distribution:
Mpumalanga to E. Cape Prov.
References:
A revision of the southern African species of Satyrium. [A V Hall; Edmund A C L E Schelpe; Nicola C Anthony] 1982; Flora Capensis, Vol 5, Part 3, page 3, (1913) Author: (By R. A. ROLFE.); Wild Orchids of Southern Africa Stewart, Linder, Schelpe & Hall 1982; Orchids of Southern Africa Linder & Kurzweil 1999; Field Guide to the Orchids of Northern South Africa and Swaziland McMurty, Grobler, Grobler & Burns 2008
Images:
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Habitat/In situ	Habitat/In situ	Habitat/In situ	Habitat/In situ
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.