Nervilia lilacea Jum. & H.Perrier, Ann. Fac. Sci. Marseille 21: 197 (1912).
Heterotypic Synonyms:
Nervilia gassneri Börge Pett., Nordic J. Bot. 9: 492 (1990).
Description:
Erect, terrestrial herb, 6-10 cm tall, glabrous except for subterranean parts. Tuber spherical. Leaf solitary, not prostrate, glabrous; blade wider than long, 1.5 by 2 cm; veins 5; petiole c. 3 cm long, sulcate with a sheathing cataphyll. Scape erect, terete, 1-flowered, with 2 sheathing cataphylls, the upper one I cm and longer than the lower one and than the bract. Flower small, more or less horizontal. Bract c. I mm; sepals and petals greenish white, spreading, linear-lanceolate, slightly attenuate towards the base, 11-12 by 2-2.5 mm; lip slightly shorter, 3-lobed, white with lilac midlobe; sidelobes acute, much shorter than the midlobe, which is lanceolate, 3 by 3 mm with a finely toothed front margin. Gynostemium clavate, curved forwards, lilac, c. 5 mm.
Habitat:
Tropical rain forest floor margins at elevation 200–2000 m a.s.l..
Phenology:
Flowering from March to April was observed in Kenya.
Notes:
Only known from the single type specimen with one leaf and one flower. Both flower and leaf were obtained from cultivation.
Cultivation:
As given for the genus, warm to cool growing terrestrial.
Distribution:
N. & C. Madagascar
References:
Orchid Monographs 5 (1991); Flora Zambesiaca Vol. 11 Part 1 Pope 1995; Field Guide to the Orchids of Northern South Africa and Swaziland McMurty, Grobler, Grobler & Burns 2008; Field Guide to the Orchids of Madagascar Cribb & Hermans 2009; The Orchids of Madagascar Hermans Dupuy, Cribb and Bosser 2007; Stewart J, Campbell B (1996) Orchids of Kenya. Timber Press Inc, Portland Oregon, 146−147; Petersson B (1990) Studies in the genus Nervilia (Orchidaceae) in Africa. Nordic Journal of Botany 9(5): 487–497; The first report of Nervilia lilacea Jum. & H. Perrier (Orchidaceae, Epidendroideae) from Kenya and the Northern Hemisphere, Jing Tian, Vivian Kathambi, Peris Kamau, Geoffrey Mwachala, Itambo Malombe, Guang-Wan Hu PhytoKeys. 2019; 135: 35–38
Images:
Click on each image to see a larger version.
| In culture | In culture |
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| Photograph© Lourens Grobler. Image used with kind permission. |
Photograph© Lourens Grobler. Image used with kind permission. |
