Habenaria filicornis Lindl., Gen. Sp. Orchid. Pl.: 318 (1835).
Homotypic Synonyms:
Orchis filicornis Thonn. in H.C.F.Schumacher, Beskr. Guin. Pl.: 397 (1827), nom. illeg.
Heterotypic Synonyms:
Habenaria tridactyla A.Rich., Tent. Fl. Abyss. 1: 291 (1847).
Habenaria chlorotica Rchb.f., Flora 48: 178 (1865).
Habenaria spiranthes Rchb.f., Flora 48: 178 (1865).
Habenaria natalensis Rchb.f., Otia Bot. Hamburg.: 97 (1881).
Habenaria deflexa Hochst. ex Kraenzl., Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 16: 97 (1892).
Habenaria erythraeae Rolfe in D.Oliver & auct. suc. (eds.), Fl. Trop. Afr. 7: 215 (1898).
Habenaria wilmsiana Kraenzl., Orchid. Gen. Sp. 1: 464 (1898).
Habenaria pertenuis Kraenzl., Vierteljahrsschr. Naturf. Ges. Zürich 74: 105 (1929).
Habenaria filicornis var. chlorotica (Rchb.f.) Geerinck, Bull. Jard. Bot. Natl. Belg. 52: 144 (1982).
Habenaria moratii Szlach. & Olszewski, in Fl. Cameroun 34: 130 (1998).
Description:
A terrestrial herb 1.5-5 dm. high. Tubers globose or ellipsoid, 1-2 cm. long, 5-12 mm. in diameter, ± woolly. Stem slender, with scattered leaves. Leaves 3-7(-9), nearly erect or recurved, 1 or 2 lowest sheath-like, white with dark reticulations, remainder lanceolate or elliptical-lanceolate, acute, the largest 3-11 cm. long and 7-18 mm. broad, the others decreasing in size up the stem. Inflorescence narrow, 5-19 cm. long, rather laxly up to 20-flowered. Bracts lanceolate, acuminate, shorter than the flowers. Flowers curved outwards, green; ovary 8-11 mm. long; pedicel 3-6 mm. long. Dorsal sepal elliptical or ovate-elliptical, obtuse, convex, 2.5-5.5 min. long; laterals deflexed, obliquely semi-ovate, obtuse, 3.5-7 mm. long. Petals very obliquely or curved lanceolate, as long as the dorsal sepal and adherent to it. Lip divided almost to the base, 5-13 mm. long, the undivided part less than 1 mm. long; lobes linear, rather fleshy, ± incurved, the middle lobe a little longer and broader than the side lobes; spur slender, slightly swollen towards the apex, 1.5-3 cm. long. Anther 2-3 mm. high, loculi parallel, canals scarcely 1 mm. long; stigmas club-shaped, ± 1.5 mm. long, thickly papillose-pubescent on the lower surface, middle lobe of rostellum narrow, acute, variable in length, median keel absent or very low.
Habitat:
Grasslands, swampy grasslands, secondary bushlands, 1350-1950 m. Throughout the year.
Phenology:
Flowering from June to July.
Cultivation:
As given for the genus, cool to cold growing terrestrial.
Distribution:
Guinea, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo (Zaire), Ethiopia, Uganda, Tanzania, Angola, Zambia, Malawi, Zimbabwe.
References:
Orchidaceae of West-central Africa, vol. 1, Gdansk University Press Gdansk 2010; Flora Of Tropical East Africa Part 1 Summerhayes 1968; Field Guide to the Orchids of Northern South Africa and Swaziland McMurty, Grobler, Grobler & Burns 2008, The Orchids of South Central Africa Williamson 1977; Flora Zambesiaca Vol 11 Part 1 Pope 1995
Images:
Click on each image to see a larger version.

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.