Disperis virginalis

Disperis virginalis, sometimes commonly called the leafmould kappie, is a terrestrial orchid, a small and slender perennial rarely reaching 25 cm in height.

Two simple, about opposite, leaves grow stalkless or nearly so from the hairless, sometimes purple stems. The leaf-shape is broadly ovate to cordate (heart-shaped), tapering to acutely pointed tips. The blades are hairless, dark green and glossy. Their closely spaced lateral veins are about parallel and angled slightly upwards from the midribs to the margins that are entire and wavy. The leaves become anything from 2 cm to 7,5 cm long.

The species distribution is small in the north of South Africa, about central in Limpopo, as well as in eSwatini and the eastern reaches of Zimbabwe.

The habitat of D. virginalis is shaded floors of montane evergreen forest at elevations between 1500 m and 1950 m. Pine plantations, such as where the plants in picture grow, add to the distribution of the species, contrary to the habitat destruction that commonly ensues from human development. These plants may also be found growing on mossy rocks in forest, adding an option to their terrestrial adaptations. The habitat population is deemed of least concern early in the twenty first century (iNaturalist; www.orchidspecies.com; https://www.zimbabweflora.co.zw; http://redlist.sanbi.org).