Habenaria rariflora A.Rich. 1841 SECTION Macroceratitis Kraenzl
Photo by Dinesh Valke and His Flickr Photo Webpage
Photo by The Hindu Magazine
Drawing by J Joseph
Common Name The Rarely Blooming Habenaria
Flower Size
Found in Kerala state of south western India in higher plateaus and moist rocks near seasonal waterfalls at elevations of 500 to 2000 meters as a miniature to small sized, warm to cool growing lithophyte and rarely terrestrial or even epiphytic with 1 to 2 small, ovoid to oblong, ocassionally laterally compressed tubers giving rise to an erect, short stem carrying 2 to 4, radical, basally clustered, thin to somewhat coriaceous, narrowly linear-lanceolate to oblong-lanceolate, mucronate leaves that blooms in the summer on a terminal, erect, terete, faintly to deeply ribbed, green, without bracts, 2 to 4" [5 to 10 cm] long, 1 to 2, [5] rarely 6 to 15 flowered inflorescence with unequal, the lower ones larger, ovate to ovate-lanceolate, acute floral bracts and carrying white, pedicellate, bracteate flowers.
Synonyms Habenaria uniflora Dalzell 1851 nom. illeg.
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ;
* Ann. Sci. Nat., Bot., sér. 2, 15: 70 A Rich. 1841
J. Bot. Kew Gard. Misc. 3: 344 Dalzell 1851 as H uniflora nom. illeg.
The Orchids of Bombay Santapau & Kapadia 1966 Drawings fide;
Indian Orchids A Field Guide to Identification and Culture Vol 1 Pradhan 1976 drawing hmm;
Orchids of Nilgris Joseph 1987 drawing fide;
Orchids of India A Glimpse Misra 2007;
Lankesteriana Vol 18 [1]: 23–62 Jalal & Jayanth 2018 photo fide;
Orchids of Maharashtra Jalal 2018 photo Fide;
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
