Habenaria pasmithii G.Will., Kirkia 12: 199 (1983).
Homotypic Synonyms:
Mirandorchis pasmithii (G.Will.) Szlach. & Kras-Lap., Orchidee (Hamburg) 54: 85 (2003).
Description:
Erect herb to 90 cm high; tubers c. 12 × 8 mm, ellipsoid. Leaves c. 10, the lowermost 1–2 leaves sheathing, the mid stem leaves erect, to 29 × 1.2 cm, linear, acute; the upper leaves grading into the bracts Inflorescence 12–16 × 4.5–8 cm, fairly densely 12–16-flowered; bracts 20–24 × 6 mm, lanceolate, acute. Flowers suberect, green with white lip. Ovary and pedicel 25–42 mm long, straight, glabrous. Sepals all minutely verrucose; dorsal sepal erect, 9–10 × 3–5 mm, elliptic, obtuse or apiculate; lateral sepals spreading, 9–12 × 7 mm, obliquely ovate. Petals 2-lobed to base; upper lobe erect, 10 × 0.6 mm, linear, not adnate to dorsal sepal; lower lobe c. 20 × 1 mm, linear, curved. Lip adnate to stigmatic arms at base, 3-lobed with basal undivided part c. 1.5 mm long; mid-lobe c. 12 × 1 mm, ligulate or linear, porrect; side lobes spreading, 14–16 × 2–2.5 mm, lanceolate, acute; spur pendent or horizontal, 20–23 mm long, twisted in middle, not inflated at apex. Anther loculi 4 mm high; canals 3–4.5 mm long; stigmatic arms 11 mm long, the apex clavate and truncate. Mid-lobe of rostellum 4 mm high.
Habitat:
Water meadows or slow-flowing water to 60 cm deep, growing with grasses, sedges and aquatic herbs.
Notes:
Differs from Habenaria rautaneniana in having minutely papillose sepals, a glabrous lip and a spur which is straight but not inflated at apex; and from Habenaria calvilabris in having narrower leaves, non-papillose ovary and narrower petal lobes. Some specimens of Habenaria rautaneniana have slightly papillose ovaries and some of Habenaria calvilabris have quite narrow leaves.
Cultivation:
As given for the genus.
Distribution:
Zambia to N. Botswana
References:
Flora Zambesiaca Vol 11, Part 1, (1995) Author: I. la Croix and P.J. Cribb; A NEW HABENARIA (ORCHIDACEAE) FROM BOTSWANA G. Williamson, Kirkia, Vol. 12, No. 2 (1982), pp. 199-202
Images:
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Habitat/In situ	Habitat/In situ	Habitat/In situ	Habitat/In situ
Photograph© Nicholas Case Wightman Image used with kind permission.	Photograph© Nicholas Case Wightman Image used with kind permission.	Photograph© Nicholas Case Wightman Image used with kind permission.	Photograph© Nicholas Case Wightman Image used with kind permission.