Pterygodium ingeanum

Pterygodium ingeanum, previously Corycium ingeanum is a tuberous perennial, a terrestrial orchid growing to 20 cm in height.

It grows on the Bokkeveld Plateau in the Nieuwoudtville area, home to many South African endemic bulbous plant species. As the flat land here, previously mainly renosterveld, is extensively used agriculturally, the plant has become endangered, having lost about 85% of its habitat.

This has also disrupted pollinator prevalence, making oil-collecting pollinator visits by bees of the Rediviva genus to these plants extremely rare. The near inability of the plants to set seed is somewhat ameliorated by vegetative reproduction through dense clumping of these plants, often observed (Liltved and Johnson, 2012; iSpot; http://redlist.sanbi.org).