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Liparis mulindana Schltr., Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 53: 560 (1915).
Description:
Dwarf terrestrial herb with a short, fleshy rhizome. Leaf 1, appressed to the ground, up to 6 × 5 cm, ovate or orbicular, cordate at the base with 8–9 deeply impressed veins, dark olive-green with a reddish tinge above, deep purple beneath. Inflorescence to 15 cm long, 4–8-flowered; peduncle 8–12 cm long, reddish-green with 2–3 narrow, acuminate, reddish bracts c. 5 mm long. Flowers dull reddish, green towards the centre. Pedicel and ovary 5–8 mm long, winged; bracts 4–5 mm long, narrowly triangular, acuminate, purple. Dorsal sepal erect, 6–10 × 1–1.5 mm, linear, fleshy; lateral sepals 6–7 × 3–4 mm, obovate, falcate, joined at first but later separating, projecting forwards, the tips curled down, lying below the lip. Petals 6–11 mm long, less than 1 mm wide, linear, fleshy, deflexed or spreading. Lip 8 × 4–5 mm, geniculate, constricted after a broadly auriculate base then heart-shaped, concave with a fleshy disk in the centre; slightly emarginate at the apex. Column 4–6 mm long, geniculate, winged towards the apex.
Habitat:
Brachystegia woodland, often on stony hill sides 1100–1650 m.
Cultivation:
As given for the genus.
Distribution:
Gabon to Tanzania and S. Trop. Africa
References:
Flora Zambesiaca. Vol 11, Part 1, (1995) Author: I. la Croix and P.J. Cribb; Botanische Jahrbucher fur Systematik, Pflanzengeschichte und Pflanzengeographie. [v.53 (1915)]: Page 560; THE ORCHIDS OF MALAŴI Brian Morris, The Society of Malawi Journal, Vol. 35, No. 2 (1982), pp. 7-23; La Croix, I. et al. (1991). Orchids of Malawi A.A. Balkema, Rotterdam
Images:
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Habitat/In situ	Habitat/In situ	Habitat/In situ
Photograph© Biodiversity and Landscape Unit. Image used with kind permission.	Photograph© Biodiversity and Landscape Unit. Image used with kind permission.	Photograph© Biodiversity and Landscape Unit. Image used with kind permission.