Satyrium princeps

Satyrium princeps is a robust terrestrial orchid growing to heights from 34 cm to 69 cm from a root-stem tuberoid, a storage organ which consists of both root and stem tissue. There are actually two of these tuberoids present during the growth season (winter), the old one withering and a new one added annually.

Two broadly ovate to elliptic, fleshy leaves with obtusely pointed tips lie flat on the ground. The longest leaf may measure 23 cm. Spaced sheaths occur up the stem to the inflorescence. These sheaths, seven to nine of them, are dry and membranous by flowering time. The plants are thought to last on average for about five years.

The species distribution is on the southern Cape coast in the Western and Eastern Cape from Wilderness to Port Alfred, therefore a South African endemic. The habitat is south-facing dunes and headlands, sometimes densely vegetated, also by fynbos. The plants occur at elevations that seldom exceed 150 m. The species is considered vulnerable in habitat early in the twenty first century (Liltved and Johnson, 2012; www.plantzafrica.com; www.redlist.sanbi.org).