Habenaria cirrhata (Lindl.) Rchb.f. 1865 SECTION Ceratopetalae Kraenzl.
Photo by © Francisco Perez Vera
Photo by © Karl Senghas and The Swiss Orchid Foundation at the Jany Renz Herbaria Website
Drawing by © Graham Williamson
Common Name The Tendril-Like Habenaria
Flower Size 3" [7.5 cm]
Found in Sierra Leone, Togo, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Guinea, Cameroon, Gabon, Zaire, Burundi, Central African Republic, Sudan, Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Comoros and Madagascar in grasslands with scattered bushes at elevations of 300 to 2600 meters as a medium to giant sized, hot to cold growing terrestrial with an erect, leafy throughout stem carrying, 9 to 16, almost orbicular to lanceolate, grading smaller above leaves that blooms in the spring, summer and fall on a 6 to 17.2" [15 to 43 cm] long, loosely 3 to 11 flowered inflorescence with lanceolate, shorter than the pedicel floral bracts.
Differs from H holubii by the spur being 5.2 to 8.8" [13 to 22 cm] long.
Synonyms Bonatea cirrhata Lindl. 1835; Ceratopetalorchis cirrhata (Lindl.) Szlach., Górniak & Tukallo 2003; Habenaria dawei Rolfe 1912; Habenaria longistigma Rolfe 1898; Habenaria megistosolen Schltr. 1915; Habenaria schweinfurthii Rchb.f. 1878; Habenaria zenkeriana Kraenzl. 1894;
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ;
Gen. Sp. Orchid. Pl.: 327 Lindley 1835 as Bonatea cirrhata;
Otia Bot. Hamburg.: 58 Rchb.f 1878
Otia Bot. Hamburg.: 58 Rchb.f 1878 as H schweinfurthii;
Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 19: 247 Kraenzlin 1894 as H zenkeriana;
Fl. Trop. Afr. 7: 248 Rolfe 1898
Fl. Trop. Afr. 7: 248 Rolfe 1898 as H longistigma;
Bull. Misc. Inform. Kew 1912: 134 Rolfe 1912 as H dawei
Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 53: 512 Schlechter 1915 as H megistosolen;
Atlas des Orchidees Cultivees Constantin 1920 drawing fide;
Repert. Specierum Nova. Regni Vegetabilis Band 33 Schlechter 1925;
Flora of Madagascar Perrier 1939;
AOS Bulletin Vol 32 # 10 1963;
The Orchids of South Central Africa Williamson 1977 drawing fide;
Flore D'Afrique Centrale [Zaire- Rwands - Burundi] Orhidaceae Premeir parte Geerink 1984 drawing/photo fide;
Orchids of the Central African Republic A Provisional Checklist Cribb & Fay 1986;
Orchids of Kenya Stewart & Campbell 1996;
Richardiana 3: 161 Szlach., Górniak & Tukallo 2003 as Ceratopetalorchis cirrhata;
Les Orchidees de Cote d'Ivorie Perez-Vera 2003 photo/drawing fide;
Field Guide to the Ethiopian Orchids Demissew, Cribb and Rasmussen 2004;
Orchidaceae of West Central Africa Vol 1 Szlatchecko etal 2010 as Ceratopetalorchis cirrhata drawing fide;
Les Orchidees de Madagascar Bosser & Lecoufle 2015 photo fide;
A la Recherche des Orchidees de Madagascar Hervouet 2018 photo fide;
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