Habenaria splendentior Summerh. 1949 SECTION Multipartitae

Drawing © by Williamson

Full shade Cool LATE Spring EARLYSummer

Common Name The Beautiful Habenaria

Flower Size 1" [2.5 cm]

Found in Burundi, Zaire and Zambia in the wet margins of relict rain forests patches at elevations around 1200 to 1400 meters as a medium to large sized, cool growing terrestrial with ellipsoid tubers giving rise to an erect stem carrying 8 to 10, all along the stem, the 2 lowermost sheathing, the mid cauline largest, broadly lanceolate, acute leaves that blooms in the late spring and early summer on a terminal, erect, 6.4 to 12" [16 to 30 cm] long, rather laxly 12 flowered inflorescence with 3 times as long as the ovary floral bracts and carrying flowers with the sepals and the lip green and the petals are white.

"This plant, when cultivated in England in 1931, was thought merely to be a large flowered individual of H. splendens , the extra size being due to cultivation. Further investigation has shown, however, that wild specimens show the same differences from typical H. splendens, which is a comparatively uniform species. The most obvious feature of the new species is the much longer and differently shaped spur, but the flowers are distinctly larger in almost all respects, a notable exception being the narrower petals. In general features of floral structuire, how- ever, the species agrees very well with H. splendens , H. praestans and H. mannii , all three having a very broad ribbon-like horseshoe-shaped anther-connective. Summerhayes 1949

Synonyms Kryptostoma splendentius (Summerh.) Szlach. & Olszewski 1998; Ochyrorchis splendentior (Summerh.) Szlach. 2004

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ;

* Kew Bull. 4: 427 Summerhayes 1949

Flora of Tropical East Africa Orchidaeceae Part 1 Summerhayes 1968;

The Orchids of South Central Africa Williamson 1977 drawing fide;

Flore D'Afrique Centrale [Zaire- Rwands - Burundi] Orhidaceae Premeir parte Geerink 1984 drawing fide;

Flora of Zambia Vol 11 Part 1 Pope 1995;

Fl. Cameroun 34: 231 Szlach 1998 as Kryptostoma splendentius

Richardiana 4: 56 Szlach. 2004 as Ochyrorchis splendentior

Orchidaceae of West Central Africa Vol 1: 207 Szlach etal 2010 as Ochyorchis splendentior

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------