Didymoplexis africana Summerh. 1951 publ. 1952

Drawing by © Margonska

Common Name The African Didymoplexis

Flower Size .5" [1.25 cm]

Found in Ghana, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Congo, Zaire and Tanzania in rain forests and submontane evergreen forests at elevations of 800 to 1200 meters as a mini-miniature to small sized, warm to cool growing, leafless mycoheterotrophic terrestrial with a thick, subterranean, horizontal rhizome giving rise to and erect, delicate, glabrous stem with ovate-lanceolate, amplexicaul cauline bracts in the lower half of the stem, that blooms in the summer and fall on an erect, 3.2 to 8.4" [8 to 21 cm] long overall, rachis 1.6 to 4" [4 to 10 cm] long,several flowered inflorescence with ovate-lanceolate, acute, herbaceous floral bracts and carrying tubular lower flowers and wider opening, white flowers above.

"In D. africana the lip is more distinctly clawed than in most other species of the genus while the markedly undulate callus is transverse in position instead of longitudinal. At the apex of the claw is a refelexed or retrorsely placed ligule-like callus, very similar in position and character to that in other species." Summerhayes 1952

Synonyms

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ;

* Kew Bull. 6: 465 Summerhayes 1951 publ. 1952 Die Orchideen 3 Auflage Bd 1 Sonderabdruck aus Schlechter Lieferung 7 385 - 448 Brieger, Maatsch and Senghas 1975; Flora of Tropical East Africa Orchidaceae Part 2 Cribb 1984 drawing fide; Flore D'Afrique Centrale [Zaire- Rwands - Burundi] Orhidaceae Premeir parte Geerink 1984; Flora Zambesiaca Vol 11 Pope 1995 drawing mostly not = G baueri only Figure #1 and #3 of the whole drawing are correct; Orchidaceae of West-Central Africa Vol 1 Szatch, Mytnik-Ejsmont, Kras, Rutkowski, Baranow and Gornick 2010 drawing fide;

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