Habenaria barrina Ridl. 1887 SECTION Pentaceras [Thou] Schlechter 1915

Drawing by © Francisco Perez-Vera

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Common Name The ? Habenaria

Flower Size 1" [2.5 cm]

Found in Ivory Coast, Liberia, Nigeria, Guinea, Gulf of Guinea Islands, Congo and Zaire in virgin rainforests at elevations around 50 to 600 as as small to medium sized, hot to warm growing terrestrial with a subterreanean, ellipsoid tuber giving rise to an erect, glabrous, delicate, leafy stem carrying 4 to 6, cauline, oblanceolate, oblong-ovate to oblong-elliptic, acute to acuminate, attenuate towards the base, spread, decreasing in sized upwards, gathered just below the inflorescence, subpetiolate base leaves that blooms in the late summer and early fall on an erect, terminal, rachis 6.8" [17 cm] long, 8 to 10 flowered inflorescence carrying resupinate, white to greenish white flowers.

Differs from H thomana in the arrangment of the leaves. H thomana has the leaves towards the middle of the stem and H barrina has them clustered just below the inflorescence.

Synonyms

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ;

*Bol. Soc. Brot. 5: 202 Ridley 1887