Polystachya pubescens (Lindl.) Rchb.f.

 

This delightful bright yellow, fragrant epiphytic orchid is at home on a tree branch in the forest or on a sandstone rock in the full sun.

Description

This plant is an epiphyte, that is it does not grow in the soil but on the branches of trees. It does not use the tree to supply its food but only to support it so that its spongy roots can absorb moisture from mists and rain and nutrients from decaying vegetation.

The flowers arise from the young growth between October and December and are a striking yellow with brown markings and a strong fragrance.

Distribution and habitat

This species is found in the coastal forests from the Eastern Cape in the south to Zululand and Swaziland and will not tolerate low temperatures. In the Pondoland region it can be found growing in large mats on sandstone rocks in the full sun. These plants usually have leaves that are a pronounced purple colour because of the intense light. In the lower light conditions of the forest the plants are green.

[The Kwazulu-Cape coastal forest mosaic is a subtropical moist broadleaf forest ecoregion of South Africa. It covers an area of 17,800 square kilometers (6,900 sq mi) in South Africa's Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal provinces.

Limits

The Kwazulu-Cape coastal forest mosaic occupies the humid coastal strip between the Indian Ocean and the foothills of the Drakensberg mountains. It is part of a strip of moist coastal forests that extend along Africa's Indian Ocean coast from southern Somalia to South Africa. The northern limit of the ecoregion is at the St. Lucia estuary in KwaZulu Natal, where the forests transition to the Maputaland coastal forest mosaic. The southern limit is at Cape St. Francis, east of Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape Province, where the KwaZulu-Cape forests transition to the Albany thickets.]

 

Derivation of name and historical aspects

The name is derived from the many ( poly- ) branched flower spikes ( stachys ) in some of the species. The genus grows throughout Africa and comprises about 200 species, 11 of which occur in southern Africa. The most common species in South Africa is P. ottoniana.

Uses

Because of its showy flowers and relative ease of culture, there is a demand for plants amongst specialist orchid growers . There are records of the genus being used amongst the amaZulu as a protective charm.

Polystachya pubescens | PlantZAfrica (sanbi.org)

 

 

 

Polystachya pubescens - actabotanica.com.br

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

https://youtu.be/kxqKEDIgAtQ?t=596