Disa fragrans inflorescence

The cylindrical inflorescence of Disa fragrans, commonly the fragrant disa, is many-flowered, sometimes carrying up to 150 of them. A flower spike reaches about 10 cm in length.

The flowers in picture are mainly yellow. The red in the photo belongs to the tips of the pointed floral bracts that grow from the stalk over the base of the ovary of each flower. The pale, nearly white colouring seen among the yellow of the flowers also belongs to these bracts, this time their blades lower down.

There are flowers open concurrently along the full length of the visible inflorescence in the photo. The blooming season of this disa may begin either around midsummer or autumn, lasting sometimes to the onset of winter, probably variable across the species distribution (Pooley, 1998; www.zimbabweflora.co.zw).