Disa ferruginea flowers

The flowers of Disa ferruginea are bright red to orange, sometimes showing a little yellow as well.

The hood or dorsal sepal (above the other flower parts) is helmet-shaped (galeate), about 1 cm long with pointed tip and margins that are incurved, reducing its entrance. The small lance-shaped to sickle-shaped petals are inside this hood, flanking the rostellum and other parts of the column in the flower centre.

The flowers have slender, conical spurs extending from the back of the median sepals; the spur being the dominant floral appearance feature of the species. The conspicuous spurs vary in length between 7 mm and 2 cm.

The lip of the flower positioned at its base is narrow, nearly linear, sometimes with scalloped margins and up to 12 mm long.

Even the ovary of this flower is red. The flower diameter ranges from 1 cm to 1,5 cm. The bract found below each flower is long and thin, soon dry (Liltved and Johnson, 2012; Bean and Johns, 2005).