Brachycorythis ovata subsp. ovata

The only subspecies of Brachycorythis ovata occurring in South Africa is subsp. ovata. It has white in the centre of its purple lip with one to a few purple spots in the white patch.

The lateral petals are pale, cohering with the flower’s purple hood, the dorsal or median sepal. The concave lateral sepals spread widely. They are pale on their inner surfaces, purple on the outside.

The long, erect bracts that subtend the individual flowers can be seen here, sharply pointing their lance-shaped purple tips upwards.

The species distribution is in the east of the Eastern Cape, the east of the Free State, widespread in KwaZulu-Natal and also in Gauteng, Mpumalanga and Limpopo. It also grows beyond the border in at least Lesotho and Eswatini.

The habitat is summer rainfall grassland. The species is not considered to be threatened in its habitat early in the twenty first century (Pooley, 1998; http://redlist.sanbi.org).