Platylepis glandulosa (Lindl.) Rchb.f., Linnaea 41: 62 (1876).
Homotypic Synonyms:
Notiophrys glandulosa Lindl., J. Proc. Linn. Soc., Bot. 6: 138 (1862).
Erporkis glandulosa (Lindl.) Kuntze, Revis. Gen. Pl. 2: 660 (1891).
Heterotypic Synonyms:
Diplogastra angolensis Welw. ex Rchb.f., Flora 48: 183 (1865).
Platylepis angolensis (Welw. ex Rchb.f.) T.Durand & Schinz, Consp. Fl. Afric. 5: 58 (1894).
Platylepis australis Rolfe, Bull. Misc. Inform. Kew 1906: 378 (1906).
Platylepis engleriana Kraenzl. ex Engl. in H.G.A.Engler & C.G.O.Drude, Veg. Erde 9(II): 427 (1908).
Platylepis talbotii Rendle, Cat. Pl. Oban: 109 (1913).
Platylepis nyassana Schltr., Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 53: 557 (1915).
Description:
Rhizome up to 25 cm long, creeping, fleshy, unbranched or sparsely branching, lying on the soil or subterranean. Roots fleshy, villous. Stem 20-36 cm tall, erect, stout, glabrous. Leaves 6-8, spirally arranged along stem; sheath up to 2.5 cm long, narrowing apically to 2-2.5 cm long petiole; blade 4.8-11 cm long, 1.2-5.5 cm wide, ovate to elliptic, acuminate, slightly asymmetric, sometimes undulate along margins; 4-6 cauline bracts above leaves. Inflorescence terminal, spike 5-6 cm long, 30-60-flowered, dense. Rhachis, bracts, ovary and sepals densely glandular. Flowers green, pink-brown tinged, lip white, pink-brown at the base. Floral bracts 15 mm long, broadly ovate, subacute, herbaceous, stout. Ovary 8-10 mm long, erect, twisted. Dorsal sepal 6-10 mm long, 2.2-3 mm wide, oblong-ovate, thin, cochleate, subobtuse. Petals 5-9.5 mm long, I mm wide, oblanceolate to spatu-late, obtuse, thin, delicate, glabrous. Lateral sepals of the same size, obliquely oblong, subacute, thin, cochleate. Lip 5.5-8.5 mm long, 2.2-2.5 mm wide, joined together with the gynostemium almost to its apex, sessile, indistinctly constricted in the apical part, oblong in general outline, canaliculate; basal part deeply saccate with 2 thickenings inside; apical part more or less cordate, undulate on margin, reflexed, with obscure V-shaped thickening. Gynostemium 5-8 mm long.
Habitat:
In deep shade in marshy forests, sometimes in plantations.
Flowering time:
Jan - Feb
Cultivation:
As given for the genus.
Distribution:
Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Sao Tomé and Principe, Equatorial Guinea (Rfo Muni, Annobon, Bioko), the Republic of Congo?, the Democratic Republic of Congo (Zaire), Sudan, Uganda, Tanzania, Angola, Zambia, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Republic of South Africa. Alt. up to 1300 m.
References:
Orchidaceae of West-central Africa, vol. 1, Gdansk University Press Gdansk 2010; Linder, H.P. & Kurzweil, H. (1999). Orchids of Southern Africa A.A. Balkema, Rotterdam; La Croix, I. & Cribb, P.J. (1995). Orchidaceae (Part 1) Flora Zambesiaca 11(1); Cribb, P.J. (1984). Orchidaceae (Part 2) Flora of Tropical East Africa; Ball, J.S. (2009). Terrestrial African Orchids, A Selected Review; POWO (2022). "Plants of the World Online. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published on the Internet; http://www.plantsoftheworldonline.org/ Retrieved 29 November 2022."
Images:
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Habitat/In situ	Habitat/In situ	Habitat/In situ	Habitat/In situ	Habitat/In situ	Habitat/In situ
Photograph ©Frederic Henze. Image used with kind permission.	Photograph ©Frederic Henze. Image used with kind permission.	Photograph ©Frederic Henze. Image used with kind permission.	Photograph ©Frederic Henze. Image used with kind permission.	Photograph ©Frederic Henze. Image used with kind permission.	Photograph ©Frederic Henze. Image used with kind permission.

 

Platylepis margaritifera Schltr. in Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. 15: 328 (1918)
Heterotypic Synonyms
Bathiorchis rosea (H.Perrier) Bosser & P.J.Cribb in Adansonia, sér. 3, 25: 229 (2003)
Goodyera rosea (H.Perrier) Ormerod in Taiwania 51: 158 (2006)
Gymnochilus roseus H.Perrier in Bull. Soc. Bot. France 83: 24 (1936)
Platylepis roseum (H.Perrier) M.C.Pace in Brittonia 72: 264 (2020)
Description:
Herbs, generally 17 cm tall; roots villous; stem bearing above the center 3-4 petiolate leaves (petiole generally 1.5 cm long), elliptical-acuminate (generally 7 x 2.5 cm), compressed-rounded basally; peduncle puberulent-glandular below the inflorescence; inflorescence elongated (3 x 1.5 cm), densely many flowered; bracts equal to the length of the flowers; flowers small, slightly puberulent-glandular on the external parts. Sepals oblong, obtuse and 7 mm long. Petals 6 mm long, linear-lingulate, obtuse. Labellum concave, oblong, subacute, 6 mm. long, glabrous, 2 keeled above and provided basally with a transverse line of 7 calluses in the form of a bead. Column very thin, dilate toward the apex, 5.5 mm tall. Ovary sessile generally 6 mm long, puberulent-glandular.
Habitat:
Distribution:
ENE. Madagascar, Réunion
References:
Flora of Madagascar Perrier 1939; Orchids of Madagascar Hermans, Du Puy, Cribb and Bosser 2007; Field Guide to the Orchids of Madagascar Cribb & Hermans 2009; POWO (2022). "Plants of the World Online. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published on the Internet; http://www.plantsoftheworldonline.org/ Retrieved 29 November 2022."
Images:
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Platylepis occulta (Thouars) Rchb.f., Linnaea 41: 62 (1876).
Homotypic Synonyms
Goodyera occulta Thouars in Hist. Orchid.: t. 28 (1822)
Hetaeria occulta (Thouars) Lindl. in Edwards's Bot. Reg. 24(Misc.): 94 (1838)
Notiophrys occulta (Thouars) Lindl. in J. Proc. Linn. Soc., Bot. 1: 189 (1857)
Orchiodes occultum (Thouars) Kuntze in Revis. Gen. Pl. 2: 675 (1891)
Platylepis goodyeroides A.Rich. in Mém. Soc. Hist. Nat. Paris 4: 34 (1828), nom. superfl.
Heterotypic Synonyms
Erporkis bracteata Kuntze in Revis. Gen. Pl. 2: 660 (1891)
Erporkis crypterpis Thouars in Hist. Orchid.: t. 28 (1822)
Platylepis polyadenia Rchb.f. in Flora 68: 537 (1885)
Description:
Robust herbs, 25-40 cm long, rhizome spreading, fleshier than the stem; leaves very numerous, petiolate (petiole 2-3 cm long), elliptical or oblong-lanceolate (12-15 x 3-5 cm), acute; peduncle with several large sheaths, villous-glandular apically; inflorescence dense, oblong (3.4 x 1,5-2 cm); bracts widely, oval-acute (11-13 x 6-8 mm), hirsute-glandular, slightly shorter titan the flower, more than three times longer than wide; flowers 15-17 mm long (with the ovary). Hirsute-glandular on the pedicel and the external parts of the flower. Median sepal narrow, slightly gibbous basally, dilate (3 mm) above the center. Petals oblanceolate-linear (8-9 x 1,5 mm), very narrow in the lower three-fourths, obtuse and 1 veined labellum thick, verrucose exteriorly, adnate to the column for three fourths of its length, 5 veined, 7 mm long 3,5 mm wide in the apical third, bigibbous basally, the 2 humps very visible, spherical, each containing a large callus, and tipped with a small lobule, semi-circular, obtuse apically and l mm wide; basal ked projecting in front. Column thin, 7 mm tall. Anther acute, taller (3 mm) than the rostellum with the lamina deeply bifid, lobes to 1,5 mm long; staminodes in very obtuse lobules and slightly visible. Stigmas slightly projecting, elongated, recurving. Ovary hirsute-glandular, 7-8 mm long.
Habitat:
In humus and vegetation debris in forests, from 0-1200 m. alt.
Phenology:
Flowering November-February.
Distribution:
Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius, Réunion, Seychelles References:
References:
Historie Particulier des Plantes Orchidees Recueilles Sur Trois Iles Australes d'Afrique Thouars 1822; Flora of Madagascar Perrier 1939/81; Orchids of Madagascar, Hermans, Du Puy, Cribb and Bosser 2007; Field Guide to the Orchids of Madagascar Cribb & Hermans; POWO (2022). "Plants of the World Online. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published on the Internet; http://www.plantsoftheworldonline.org/ Retrieved 29 November 2022."
Images:
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Habitat/In situ	Habitat/In situ	Habitat/In situ
Photograph© Rogier van Vugt. Image used with kind permission.	Photograph© Rogier van Vugt. Image used with kind permission.	Photograph© Rogier van Vugt. Image used with kind permission.

 

Platylepis polyadenia Rchb.f., Flora 68: 537 (1885).
Description:
Robust herbs, 25-40 cm long, rhizome spreading, fleshier than the stem; leaves very numerous, petiolate (petiole 2-3 cm long), elliptical or oblong-lanceolate (12-15 x 3-5 cm), acute; peduncle with several large sheaths, villous-glandular apically; inflorescence dense, oblong (3.4 x 1,5-2 cm); bracts widely, oval-acute (11-13 x 6-8 mm), hirsute-glandular, slightly shorter titan the flower, more than three times longer than wide; flowers 15-17 mm long (with the ovary). Hirsute-glandular on the pedicel and the external parts of the flower. Median sepal narrow, slightly gibbous basally, dilate (3 mm) above the center. Petals oblanceolate-linear (8-9 x 1,5 mm), very narrow in the lower three-fourths, obtuse and 1 veined labellum thick, verrucose exteriorly, adnate to the column for three fourths of its length, 5 veined, 7 mm long 3,5 mm wide in the apical third, bigibbous basally, the 2 humps very visible, spherical, each containing a large callus, and tipped with a small lobule, semi-circular, obtuse apically and l mm wide; basal ked projecting in front. Column thin, 7 mm tall. Anther acute, taller (3 mm) than the rostellum with the lamina deeply bifid, lobes to 1,5 mm long; staminodes in very obtuse lobules and slightly visible. Stigmas slightly projecting, elongated, recurving. Ovary hirsute-glandular, 7-8 mm long.
Habitat:

In humus and vegetation debris in forests, from 0-1200 m. alt.; flowering November-February.
Distribution:

Comoros, Madagascar