Genus Schizochilus

Schizochilus cecilii Rolfe, Bull. Misc. Inform. Kew 1906: 168 (1906).
Description:
Plants 100-300 mm tall; leaves 6-15, lower 3-6 clustered at the base of the stem, linear to narrowly oblanceolate, acute, to 100 mm long, remainder scattered up the scape, lanceolate, grading into the bracts. Inflorescences dense, to 70 mm long and 40-flowered; bracts at least as long as the ovary. Flowers 2-3 mm in diameter, bright yellow or white. Sepals concave, 2-4 mm long; median elliptic to rotund, obtuse; laterals sub-obliquely lanceolate to ovate, subacute. Petals rhomboid-rotund to ovate, acute, curved over the anther, 1.3-3 mm long. Lip 3-3.6 x 1.5-1.8 mm, disc with 3 fleshy calli; midlobe c. 1 mm long; side lobes less than half as long, subacute; spur cylindrical, straight, 0.1-1 mm long.
A key to the subspecies of Schizochilus cecili
Habitat:
In shallow soil over rock in montane grassland at elevations of 1000 to 2200 meters.
Distribution:
Zimbabwe to Swaziland
References:
Flora Zambesiaca Vol 11 Part 1 Pope 1995; Orchids of Kenya Stewart 1996; Orchids of Southern Africa Linder & Kurzweil 1999; Terrestrial African Orchids, A select Review John S. Ball 2009; 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
Photograph© Lourens Grobler. Image used with kind permission.	Photograph© Lourens Grobler. Image used with kind permission.	Photograph© Lourens Grobler. Image used with kind permission.

Schizochilus cecilii subsp. culveri (Schltr.) H.P.Linder, J. S. African Bot. 46: 395 (1980).
Homotypic Synonyms:
Schizochilus culveri Schltr., Beih. Bot. Centralbl. 38(2): 90 (1921).
Heterotypic Synonyms:
Schizochilus galpinii Schltr., Beih. Bot. Centralbl. 38(2): 92 (1921).
Description:
Flowers yellow; sepals 2.5-3.5 mm long; spur 0.8-1 mm long.
Habitat:
This subspecies is known from the mountains between Barberton (Mpumalanga) and Mbabane (Swaziland), where it is relatively rare on rock ledges in the grassland.
Phenology:
Flowering in December and January.
Distribution:
Mpumalanga, Swaziland
References;
Linder, H.P. and Kurzweil, H. 1999. Orchids of southern Africa. A.A. Balkema, Rotterdam.; Linder, H.P. 1980. An annotated revision of the genus Schizochilus Sond. (Orchidaceae). Journal of South African Botany 46(4):379-434.
Images:
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Habitat/In situ	Habitat/In situ	Habitat/In situ	Habitat/In situ	Habitat/In situ	Habitat/In situ	Habitat/In situ
Photograph© Lourens Grobler. Image used with kind permission.	Photograph© Lourens Grobler. Image used with kind permission.	Photograph© Lourens Grobler. Image used with kind permission.	Photograph© Lourens Grobler. Image used with kind permission.	Photograph© Lourens Grobler. Image used with kind permission.	Photograph© Lourens Grobler. Image used with kind permission.	Photograph© Lourens Grobler. Image used with kind permission.

Schizochilus cecilii subsp. transvaalensis (Rolfe) H.P.Linder, J. S. African Bot. 46: 395 (1980).
Homotypic Synonyms:
Schizochilus transvaalensis Rolfe in W.H.Harvey & auct. suc. (eds.), Fl. Cap. 5(3): 92 (1912).
Heterotypic Synonyms:
Schizochilus tenellus Schltr., Beih. Bot. Centralbl. 38(2): 92 (1921).
Description:
The small non-resupinate flowers are mainly white. Some yellow is present in the flower centre and on the lower three tepals, the lateral petals and median sepal. The lateral sepals are broad, concave, obliquely ovate, up to 4 mm long. They do not spread, shielding the column on its sides. Below the column, the elliptic median sepal is positioned between the lateral petals and longer than them. These lateral petals are oblique to oblong with rounded tips, up to 3 mm long. The lip is inconspicuously three-lobed, shallowly concave over the column, the side-lobes smaller. At the back of the lip is a very short spur, less than 0,6 mm long.
Habitat:
Common in the grasslands on the escarpment mountains between Pilgrims Rest and Lydenburg in Mpumalanga and Northern Province. Flowering in December and January. The plants grow in well-drained, often shallow soil over rock.
Distribution:
Northern Prov.
References:
Orchids of South Africa: A Field Guide of Steve Johnson; Seed morphology in Southern African Orchidoideae (Orchidaceae) H. Kurzweil, Plant Systematics and Evolution, Vol. 185, No. 3/4 (1993)
Images:
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Habitat/In situ	Habitat/In situ	Habitat/In situ	Habitat/In situ
Photograph© Warren McCleland. Image used with kind permission.	Photograph© Warren McCleland. Image used with kind permission.	Photograph© Warren McCleland. Image used with kind permission.	Photograph© Warren McCleland. Image used with kind permission.

Schizochilus crenulatus H.P.Linder, J. S. African Bot. 46: 422 (1980).
Description:
Plants 100-350 mm tall; leaves 5-6, lower 2-4 clustered basally, linear, acute, c. 70 x 4 mm, remainder scattered on the scape and grading into the bracts. Inflorescences lax, nodding spikes, 30-150 mm long, 6-25-flowered; bracts half as long as the 6 mm long ovaries. Flowers 5 mm in diameter, white with mauve veins. Sepals subequal, 5-7 mm long; median galeate, narrowly oblong-ovate to oblong-ovate, acute; laterals suboblique, lanceolate to narrowly ovate, acute, often longer than the median. Petals subobliquely rhomboid, acute, curved over the anther. Lip 6-7 x 3-4 mm, disc with a ridge or filamentous crests; midlobe acute, 2 mm long; side lobes rounded or truncate, usually crenulate, 1 mm long; spur straight, sub clavate, 2-3 mm long.
Habitat:
Restricted to the grassland on the plateau at Graskop (Mpumalanga), where it grows along the margins of exposed bedrock.
Phenology:
Flowering from December to February.
Distribution:
Mpumalanga
References:
Linder, H.P. 1980. An annotated revision of the genus Schizochilus Sond. (Orchidaceae). Journal of South African Botany 46(4):379-434.; Linder, H.P. and Kurzweil, H. 1999. Orchids of southern Africa. A.A. Balkema, Rotterdam.
Images:
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Habitat/In situ	Habitat/In situ	Habitat/In situ	Habitat/In situ	Habitat/In situ
Photograph© Lourens Grobler. Image used with kind permission.	Photograph© Lourens Grobler. Image used with kind permission.	Photograph© Lourens Grobler. Image used with kind permission.	Photograph© Lourens Grobler. Image used with kind permission.	Photograph© Lourens Grobler. Image used with kind permission.