Disa forficaria Bolus 1896 SECTION TrichochilaPhoto by © E A Schelpe

DrawingCollection by Neville Pillans Drawing by © Mary Page and The Cape Orchids Website

EARLY

Common Name or Meaning The Small Shears Disa

Flower Size

Found in southwestern Cape Province in fynbos as a medium sized, cold growing terrestrial with a slender, reeedlike stem carrying radical, linear, erect and cauline, lax narrowly ovate leaves that blooms in the summer on a terminal, erect, to 4" [10 cm] long, few flowered inflorescence with shorter than the ovary floral bracts.

This orchid is exceeding rare and has only been seen 8 times in the last 180 years.

Synonyms Forficaria graminifolia Lindl. 1838; Herschelia forficaria (Bolus) H.P.Linder 1981; Herschelianthe forficaria (Bolus) N.C.Anthony 1985

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; Rudolf Die Orchideen 3 Auflage Bd 1 Sonderabdruck aus Schlechter Lieferung 5 257- 320 Brieger, Maatsch and Senghas 1974; The Wild Orchids of Southern Africa Stewart, Schelpe, Linder and Hall 1982 as Herschelia forciferaphoto fide; Orchids of Southern Africa Linder & Kurzweil 1999; Rudolf Schlechter Die Orchideen Band 1C lieferung 40 pg 2492 - 2564 Brieger 2000 Herschelianthe forficaria; The Cape Orchids Vol 2 Liltved & Johnson 2012 photo/drawing fide;

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