Satyrium, Orchid
Satyrium is a genus of terrestrial orchids in the family Orchidaceae, comprising about 91 species. It is distributed in temperate and montane Africa, mainly in sub-Saharan Africa and Madagascar, with four species occur in India and Sri Lanka. In Africa, Satyrium species grow in fynbos, grassland and miombo woodland. Satyrium species have globular or elongated root tubers. The stems are erect, 3-80 cm tall. The leaves are basal or borne on an aerial stem, glabrous, and vary from ovate to lanceolate. Some species have sterile stems that have only foliage leaves, while the flowers are borne on separate stems that lack foliage. The terminal inflorescence is unbranched, and produces flowers that come in a range of red, pink, orange, yellow, white and green to brown color. The flowers are usually dotted or speckled with darker colors. The sepals and petals are marginally fringed, and are basally fused to each other. Its hood-like lip has a terminal tip called flap, with two spurs, one on each side of the ovary. Most Satyrium species have evening-scented flowers and are pollinated by moths which are attracted by their scent. Apart from moths, Satyrium species are also pollinated by carrion flies, bees and sunbirds. Flowering happens in spring or summer.  Satyrium pumilum Author: Bernd Haynold (Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 3.0-unported) | ||
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