Habenaria supplicans Summerh. 1942 SECTION Pentaceras [Thou] Schlechter 1915
Plant and Flowers in situ Zambia
Photos by © N Wightman and The Flora of Zambia Website
Drawing by © Williamson
LATE 
Common Name The Suplicating Habenaria [refers to the flowers resemblance of a number of tiny men bowed in prayer]
Flower Size
Found in Zaire, Angola, Malawi and Zambia in brachystegia woodlands or amid ferns in low rocky area of miombo woodland at elevations up to 1650 meters as a medium sized, cool growing terrestrial with an ellipsoid-globose, villous tuber giving rise to an erect stem carrying 7 to 10 fairly evenly spaced up the stem, lowermost 1 to 3, sheath-like, the rest, spreading,the largest in the middle, lanceolate, acute leaves that blooms in the late spring and summer on a terminal, erect, 4.8 to 7.6" [12 to 19 cm] long, rachis slightly zig-zag, laxly 14 to 20 flowered inflorescence with as long to shorter than the flower floral bracts and carrying green flowers
Similar to H silvatica but with smaller flowers, the anterior petal lobe is longer than the posterior lobe, the lip with the lateral lobe longer than the intermediate lobe, the spur twice as long and the anther stigmata canals are the same length. Also similar to H tridens but with looser and wider leaves, a longer many flowered inflorescence, the flowers arcuate-recurved and differs in the anterior division of the petal and the lateral divisions of the labellum are proportionally longer.
Synonyms
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ;
* Bot. Mus. Leafl. 10: 267 Summerhayes 1942
The Orchids of South Central Africa Williamson 1977 as Habenaria sp #49 pg 50 drawing fide;
Flora Zambesiaca Vol 11 Orchidaceae Part 2 Pope 1998
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