Brownleea graminicola

Brownleea graminicola is a terrestrial orchid, a perennial herb growing annually from its tuberous roots.

The few leaves sheath the stems and spiral up it in a well-spaced sequence. The leaves are large, lance-shaped and tapering to pointed tips. Leaf colour is bright to pale green, some longitudinal channelling visible along the surface.

The small green bracts subtending the flowers of the spike above are similarly shaped to the leaves, but much smaller.

The species distribution is in the north-east of South Africa, the eastern parts of Mpumalanga and Limpopo, also Swaziland and maybe Mozambique. The plants grow in forest margins, among shrubs in moist conditions as well as in grass among rocks (iSpot; www.sntc.org.sz).