Eulophia zeyheriana

Eulophia zeyheriana is a slender perennial, a cormous terrestrial orchid that grows a loose flower spike of 40 cm to 70 cm tall in summer. 

The plant has narrow, linear, channelled leaves. They are deciduous, as are all the above-ground plant parts. The stiff leaves are about 30 cm long and 5 mm wide, the width variable.

The plants are found in the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga. The distribution range extends into the eastern parts of Lesotho and the west of Swaziland.

The habitat is montane, sandy or stony grassland at altitudes from 1200 m to 2000 m. The habitat population is deemed of least concern early in the twenty first century.

Another species used to be called E. zeyheri, now Orthochilus welwitschii. It is found in South Africa and also a wider distribution extending to Nigeria and Sudan (Manning, 2009; Pooley, 1998; Wikipedia; JSTOR; http://redlist.sanbi.org).