Satyrium hallackii subsp. ocellatum

Satyrium hallackii has two subspecies in South Africa, viz. subsp. ocellatum, this plant seen flowering well in a suitably damp spot of summer rainfall grassland and subsp. hallackii. The latter subspecies still found in much decreased populations in a few coastal spots in the Western Cape and Eastern Cape. Another tale of habitat loss caused by human progress. It is considered difficult to distinguish between plants representing these two subspecies outside the Cape Floristic Region.

There is a third subspecies of S. hallackii, viz. subsp. ballii that grows in the Chimanimani Mountains of Zimbabwe. It has longer spurs than the other two.

The pink colour of this blooming colony is darker than sometimes seen for subsp. ocellatum (the whiter variation is also shown in this Album).

The plant grows from a tuberous rootstock (Liltved and Johnson, 2012; Manning, 2009; Germishuizen and Fabian, 1982).