Habenaria kraenzliniana

Habenaria kraenzliniana is a slender terrestrial orchid, a rare species reaching heights around 30 cm. There are two fleshy basal leaves, pressed to the ground, broadly ovate in shape and about 4 cm in diameter. Small stem leaves grade into bracts among the flowers.

The species distribution of this South African endemic is mainly in Gauteng, also in the Wolkberg in Limpopo and inland in the northern KwaZulu-Natal Drakensberg.

The habitat is grassland on stony slopes at elevations from 1000 m to 1400 m. The species is considered near threatened in habitat early in the twenty first century, due to urban development and high human population density in Gauteng, the important part of the plant’s distribution (Pooley, 1998; www.orchidspecies.com; www.redlist.sanbi.org).