Schizochilus cecilii subsp. cecilii
Description:
Plants subflexuous, slender, 10–30 cm tall.Basal sheaths hyaline or white, 1–3 cm long, obtuse to acute.Leaves 6–15, the lower 3–6 clustered near base of stem, semi-erect, up to 10 cm long, narrowly oblanceolate to very narrowly elliptic, acute, the remaining leaves scattered on the stem, lanceolate, acute to subacuminate, smaller towards the apex and grading into the floral bracts.Inflorescences dense, up to 7 × 1 cm, c. 40-flowered, nodding; bracts at least 3 mm long, narrowly ovate to ovate, subacuminate.Flowers bright yellow or white, 2–3 mm in diameter.Sepals subequal, 1 or 3 veined; dorsal sepal 2–2.7 mm long, elliptic or rotund, obtuse; lateral sepals 2.7–3.7 mm long, subobliquely lanceolate to ovate, subacute.Petals 1-nerved, 1.3–3 mm long, rhomboid-rotund to ovate, acute, curved over the anther.Lip 3–3.6 × 1.5–1.8 mm, epichile 3-lobed, central lobe c. 1 mm long, lateral lobes less than half as long as the central lobe, lobes subacute; hypochile deeply concave, somewhat smaller than the epichile; disk between hypochile and epichyle with 3 fleshy calli; spur cylindrical, straight, 0.1–0.5 mm long, anther curved, c. 1 mm long.Ovary c. 4 mm long
Habitat:
It appears to grow in shallow soil in mountain grassland, above 1500 m. (inferred only bottom).
Notes:
The flower colour of S. cecilii subsp. cecilii is variable, and both white and yellow forms have been reported from the same population.Subsp. transvaalensis and subsp. culveri, distinguished from the typical subspecies by their generally larger dorsal sepals, both occur in the eastern Transvaal mountains of South Africa.
Distribution:
Zimbabwe (Nyanga)
