Habenaria gonatosiphon Summerh. 1960 SECTION Ceratopetalae Kraenzl.

Inflorescence Photos by © Robert v. Blittersdorff and The East African Plants Website

Common Name The Bent Spur Habenaria

Flower Size 1" [2.5 cm]

Found in Zaire, Tanzania, Malawi and Zambia in usually boggy grasslands at elevations of 950 to 2200 meters as a small to large sized, warm to cold growing terrestrial with ovoid, ellipsoid to elongate-conical, sparsely tomentose tubers giving rise to an erect, rather slender, leafy throughout the length stem carrying 5 to 10, lowermost sheathlike, becoming suberect, ovate to lanceolate, acute and larger in the middle and grading smaller towards the apex leaves that blooms in the early summer on an erect, 1.2 to 5.6" [3 to 14 cm] long, fairly lax to dense, 2 mto 10 flowered inflorescence with similar to the leaves floral bracts that are shorter than the pedicel and carrying white to occasionally green tinted flowers.

Synonyms Macrura gonatosiphon (Summerh.) Szlach. & Sawicka 2003

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; Flora of Tropical East Africa Orchidaceae 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; Flora Zambesiaca Vol 11 Part 1 Pope 1995 drawing fide; Orchidaceae of West Central Africa Vol 1 Szlatchecko etal 2010 as Macrura gonatosiphon drawing fide

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