Habenaria amoena Summerh. 1956 SECTION Pentaceras [Thou] Schlechter 1915
Photos by Bart Wursten ©, and his Flora Of Zimbabwe WebSite
Drawing by © Graham Williamson
Common Name The Beautiful Habenaria
Flower Size .65" [1.6 cm]
Found in Zaire, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe on rocky hillsides in Brachystegia woodland at elevations of 800 to 1800 meters where it may may form small colonies as a medium sized, warm to cool growing terrestrial that has narrowly oblanceolate leaves all along the stem, the lowest leaves normally about 3.2" [8 cm] above ground, the largest leaves in the middle and blooms in the fall on a 4 to 10" [10 to 25 cm] long, laxly many-flowered inflorescence with lanceolate, acuminate, shorter than the ovary floral bracts and carrying fragrant flowers. It is allied to a number of other rather similar species and is probably closest to H supplicans from which it differs by the larger leaves, the slightly larger flowers with an elongate spur that is less inflated towards the tip. H. malacophylla , which is also a near relative is a taler plant with larger more obviously oblanceolate leaves which turn much blacker on drying; it also has larger flowers but the spur is much shorter and much more thickened in the distal part." Summerhayes 1954
Synonyms
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ;
* Kew Bull. 11: 218 Summerhayes 1956
Flora of Tropical East Africa Part 1 Summerhayes 1968;
The Orchids of South Central Africa Williamson 1977 drawing ok;
Flora Zambesiaca Vol 11 Part 1 Pope 1995 photo fide;
Orchidaceae of West Central Africa Vol 1: 157 Szlatchecko etal 2010 drawing good
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