Habenaria galpinii Bolus 1893 SECTION Replicatae Kraenzl
Photos by © Lourens Grobler
Photos courtesy of © Swiss Orchid Foundation at the Herbarium Jany Renz and their Website
Drawing by © John Mannning
Common Name Galpin's Habenaria [South African banker and Botanist 1800's]
Flower Size 1/2" [1.25 cm]
Found in Zimbabwe and Transvaal South Africa in damp grasslands in wet soils over rocks at elevations of 1000 to 2000 meters as a medium sized, cool growing terrestrial with several, rather large, oblong tubers giving rise to a leafy erect stem carrying 4 to 7, upper mostly bract-like, lower close set near base and semi-erect, undulate margined leaves that blooms in the fall on an erect, to 6" [to 15 cm] long, densely several to many flowered inflorescence carrying semi-erect, faintly fragrant diurnally, nocturnally strongly sweet smelling flowers.
Easily confused with H nyikana but in H galpinii the ovary is much shorter than the pedicel and the lower petal lobe is more or less .04" [1 mm] from the base. In H nyikana the ovary and pedicel are subequal and the lower petal lobe is .06 to .08" [1.5 to 2 mm] from the base. McMurty, Grobler etal 2008
Synonyms Bilabrella galpinii (Bolus) Szlach. & Kras-Lap. 2003; Bilabrella incurva (Rolfe) Szlach. & Kras 2009; Habenaria incurva Rolfe 1912
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ;
*Icon. Orchid. Austro-Afric. 1: t. 17 Bolus 1893
Fl. Cap. 5(3): 133 Rolfe 1912 as H incurva
Encyclopedia of Cultivated Orchids Hawkes 1965;
Wild Orchids of Southern Africa Stewart, Linder, Schelpe and Hall 1982;
Flora Zambesiaca Volume 11 Part one Pope 1998;
Orchids of Southern Africa Linder & Kurzweil 1999 drawing/photo fide;
Richardiana 3: 140 Szlach. 2003 as Bilabrella galpinii
Field Guide to the Orchids of Northern South Africa and Swaziland McMurty, Grobler, Grobler & Burns 2008 photos fide;
Richardiana 9: 158 Szlach & Kras. 2009 as Bilabrella incurva;
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