Habenaria rariflora A.Rich. 1841 SECTION Macroceratitis Kraenzl

Photo by The Hindu Magazine

Common Name The Rarely Blooming Habenaria

Flower Size

Found in south western India [Kerala] d in higher plateaus and moist rocks near seasonal waterfalls at elevations of 500 to 2000 meters as a miniature to small sized, warm to cool growing lithophyte and rarely terrestrial or even epiphytic with 1 to 2 small, ovoid to oblong, ocassionally laterally compressed tubers giving rise to an erect, short stem carrying 2 to 4, radical, basally clustered, thin to somewhat coriaceous, narrowly linear-lanceolate to oblong-lanceolate, mucronate leaves that blooms in the summer on a terminal, erect, terete, faintly to deeply ribbed, green, without bracts, 2 to 4" [5 to 10 cm] long, 1 to 2, [5] rarely 6 to 15 flowered inflorescence with unequal, the lower ones larger, ovate to ovate-lanceolate, acute floral bracts and carrying white, pedicellate, bracteate flowers.

Synonyms

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; The Orchids of Bombay Santapau & Kapadia 1966 Drawings fide; Indian Orchids A Field Guide to Identification and Culture Vol 1 Pradhan 1976 drawing hmm; Orchids of Nilgris Joseph 1987 drawing fide; Orchids of India A Glimpse Misra 2007; Lankesteriana Vol 18 [1]: 23–62 Jalal & Jayanth 2018 photo fide; Orchids of Maharashtra Jalal 2018 photo Fide;

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