Holothrix orthoceras Rchb.F.

Species

Angiosperms > Asparagales > Orchidaceae > Holothrix

Characteristics

Plants erect, scape without bracts, densely pilose with short soft hairs, 60-280 mm high; leaves glabrous, reticulated with white or silver. Flowers: Sepals glabrous, 1.5-3.5 x 0.5-1 mm. Petals entire, broad and membranous, each petal rolled into a tube with the edges overlapping that of the other petal, apices attenuate, 3.5-7.5 x 1-2 mm, white. Lip membranous, divided into 5 or more lobes, outer pair of lobes broadly linear and acute, 2x or more as long as the triangular central lobes, lip papillate in the throat, 4-8.5 x 2-5.5 mm, white, with or without purple veins; spur acute, straight, 2.5-6.5 mm long. Anther thecae purple.
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Terrestrial herb, geophyte or lithophyte with root tubers, 0.06-0.30 m high. Scape minutely hairy. Leaves 2, flat on ground, up to 40 mm wide, glabrous, dark green with silvery veins, not withering before flowering. Inflorescence a lax, thinly hairy raceme; flowers secund, many, green sepals, white petals purple-veined, white lip. Sepals subequal, connivent; dorsal sepal 3 mm long. Petals lanceolate, 5-6 mm long. Lip 9-11 mm long, with 3 short front lobes and 2 long side lobes; spur 4-5 mm long. Flowering time Feb.-June.
Terrestrial herb, up to 300 mm tall. Leaves dark green with a silvery network, not withered at flowering time. Outermost lobe of lip on either side longer than central lobes. Flowers with green sepals, white petals and purple-veined white lips.
Inflorescence 6–11 cm long, up to 20-flowered, flowers secund; ovary 6 mm long; bracts 4–5 mm long, lanceolate, acuminate.
Lip 7–12 × 3.5–5 mm, with 1 pair of lobes 1–2 mm long near base; mid-lobe 4–6 mm long, cuneate with 3 shallow teeth.
Leaves 2, appressed to ground, 3–6.5 × 1.5–4.2 cm, ovate, glabrous, dark green with whitish veining.
Flowers white with 5 purple lines on lip, one running to each lobe.
Sepals green, sparsely hairy, 2.5–3 × 1 mm, ovate.
Petals 3–5 × 1 mm, lanceolate, acute, erect.
Scape sparsely hairy, without sheaths.
Tubers up to 20 × 15 mm, ovoid.
Terrestrial herb 10–26 cm tall.
Spur 2–2.8 mm long, conical.
Life form perennial
Growth form herb
Growth support free-standing
Foliage retention -
Sexuality hermaphrodite
Pollination -
Spread -
Mature width (meter) -
Mature height (meter) 0.08 - 0.29
Root system -
Rooting depth (meter) -
Root diameter (meter) -
Flower color
Blooming months -
Fruit color -
Fruiting months -
Nitrogen fixer -
Photosynthetic pathway -

Environment

Light -
Soil humidity -
Soil texture 7-8
Soil acidity -
Soil nutriment -
Hardiness (USDA) 8-12

Usage

Uses -
Edible -
Therapeutic use -
Human toxicity -
Animal toxicity -

Cultivation

Mode -
Germination duration (days) -
Germination temperacture (C°) -
Germination luminosity -
Germination treatment -
Minimum temperature (C°) -
Optimum temperature (C°) -
Size -
Vigor -
Productivity -

Images

Holothrix orthoceras unspecified picture

Distribution

Holothrix orthoceras world distribution map, present in Lesotho, South Africa, and Zimbabwe

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:638921-1
WFO ID wfo-0000982904
COL ID 6LXHM
BDTFX ID -
INPN ID -
Wikipedia (EN)
Wikipedia (FR)

Synonyms

Tryphia orthoceras Holothrix orthoceras