Disperis bodkinii Bolus

Kurzweil, Hubert & Manning, John C., 2005, A synopsis of the genus Disperis Sw. (Orchidaceae), Adansonia (3) 27 (2), pp. 155-207 : 195-196

58. Disperis bodkinii Bolus

Icon. Orchid. Austro-Afric. 1: t. 96 (1896); Schlechter, Bull. Herb. Boissier, ser. 1, 6: 937 (1898); Rolfe, Fl. Cap. 5, 3: 307 (1913), as bodkini; J . C . Manning in H . P . Linder F Kurzweil , Orch. S . Afr. : 312 (1999). — Type: South Africa, Claremont Flats, Bodkin 7970 (lecto-, NH, designated by Linder F Kurzweil 1999; isolecto-, BOL, GRA, K) .

Plants pubescent, to 150 mm. Leaves 2, alternate, ovate to suborbicular, usually 8-25 × 5- 17 mm. Flowers 1-2(-3), small, green and white, sometimes with pinkish or brownish tinge; median sepal 2-3 × 1.7 mm, with erect hood 2-3 mm long, lateral sepals ovate, 2-3 × 1.5 mm; petals obovate, with basal auricle, 2.5 × 1.5 mm; lip free from gynostemium, claw linear, blade triangular, appendage entire, curved, apically bifid, glabrous except at apex.

DISTRIBUTION AND PHENOLOGY. — South Africa (Western Cape); in fynbos, also in pine plantations, from 25 to 760 m. Flowering from (June) July to October, often after fire. Plants of this species are tiny and therefore frequently overlooked, thus creating the impression that they are exceedingly rare .