Leaves cauline, sometimes withered at flowering time
Inflorescence an elongated raceme, few- to many-flowered; flowers green or yellow and white; bracts ovate
Sepals unequal; median one erect, usually forming hood with upper petal lobe; laterals oblique and reflexed, united for some distance with base of lip, anterior petal lobes and stigmatic arms
Petals deeply 2-lobed, upper lobe usually adnate to median sepal, lower (anterior) lobe fused at base with stigmatic arms and lip
Lip spurred, 3-lobed, basally united with lateral sepals, petals and stigmatic arms; base usually with a distinct tooth in front of spur mouth
Gynostemium: anther thecae erect, parallel, adjacent, anther canals elongate and adnate to lateral rostellum arms; pollinia 2, sectile, with elongated caudicles and small separate viscidia; stigmatic areas 2, on elongate processes which are basally connate with lip; rostellum 3-lobed, midlobe usually hooded, lateral lobes long slender arms
Capsule oblong
Nomenclature:
Bonatea Willd.
Willdenow: 43 (1805)
Rolfe: 138 (1912)
Phillips: 232 (1951)
Schelpe: 74 (1966)
Stewart et al.: 97 (1982)
Linder & Kurzweil: 136 (1999)
Distribution & Notes:
Global: Species 20, Arabian Peninsula, E Africa to Western Cape
Southern Africa: Species 10, fairly widespread, mainly in Northern Province, Gauteng, Mpumalanga, Swaziland, KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Cape
References:
LINDER, H.P. & KURZWEIL, H. 1999. Orchids of southern Africa. A.A. Balkema, Rotterdam
PHILLIPS, E.P. 1951. The genera of South African flowering plants. Memoirs of the Botanical Survey of South Africa No. 25
ROLFE, R.A. 1912. Order CXXXI. Orchideae. Flora capensis 5,3
SCHELPE, E.A. 1966. An introduction to the South African Orchids. Purnell & Sons, Cape Town, Johannesburg
WILLDENOW, C.L. 1805. Species plantarum, vol. 4. Nauk, Berlin
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Welcome to Biodiversity Advisor 2.0!
Biodiversity Advisor, developed by the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) and its Data Partners, is a system that will provide integrated biodiversity information to a wide range of users who will have access to geospatial data, plant and animal species distribution data, ecosystem-level data, literature, images and metadata.
The integrated information comes from our much-loved Botanical Database of Southern Africa (BODATSA) also known as Plants of Southern Africa (POSA), Zoological Database of Southern Africa (ZODATSA), Biodiversity Geographic Information System (BGIS), SANBI's institutional repository (Opus) and others.
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