Bartholina ethelae Bolus 1884 Photo courtesy of Malcolm Thomas of Australia

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Common Name Spider Orchid - Ethel's Bartholina

Flower Size 1 1/4" [3.1 cm]

Found in South Africa in sandy places amongst scrub from sealevel to 900 meters as a cold to warm growing terrestrial with small subterranean tubers and a solitary, pilose leaf flattened to the ground giving rise to a basal, 4" [10 cm] long, erect, slender, pilose, single flowered inflorescence with a showy, hydra-like, resupinate becoming erect flower arising in the spring.

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; Encyclopedia of Cultivated Orchids Hawkes 1982; Manual of Cultivated Orchids Bechtel; Cribb & Laurent 1982; Flora's Orchids Nash & La Croix 2005; An Introduction to the South African Orchids Schelpe 1966