Disa cooperi Rchb.f. 1881 SECTION Micranthae

Photo by © Cameron McMaster

Flower Closeup

Plant and flowers in situ South Africa

Photo courtesy of © Lourens Grobler

LATE EARLY

Common Name Cooper's Disa [English Plant Collector 1800's]

Flower Size 1.15" [2.8 cm]

Found in Lesotho, Cape Province, Natal, Orange Free State and Transvaal South Africa in upland grasslands at elevations of 1800 to 2200 meters as a medium to large sized, cold growing terrestrial with 2 to 5 leaves on a sterile shoot and 6 to 15 cauline leaves on the fertile shoot that blooms in the late spring and early summer on an erect terminal, with an imbricate, 16" to 28" [40 to 70 cm] long, 20 to 50 flowered inflorecence with floral bracts that are longer than the ovaries and carrying soapy-clove scented flowers

Synonyms

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; Die Orchideen Schlechter 1915; Die Orchideen Schlechter 1915 as D cooperi var thodei; Atlas des Orchidees Cultivees Constantin 1920 drawing fide; Encyclopedia of Cultivated Orchids Hawkes 1965; Wild Orchids of Southern Africa Stewart, Linder, Schelpe & Hall 1982 photo fide; AOS Bulletin Vol 62 No 3 1993 photo fide; Orchids of Southern Africa Linder & Kurzweil 1999 photo fide; A molecular phylogeny for the large African orchid genus Disa Bytebier 2006; AOS Bulletin Vol 76 #7 2007 photo fide; Field Guide to the Orchids of Northern South Africa and Swaziland McMurty, Grobler, Grobler & Burns 2008; Orchid Digest Vol 77 #3 2013 photo not = D brevicornis; AOS Bulletin Vol 84 #5 2015 drawing fide

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