Disa rhodantha darker pink

Flower colour of Disa rhodantha varies in shades of pink to dark red. These pink flowering plants were photographed near Dullstroom in Mpumalanga grassland, where the rain falls in summer and the winters are cold.

 There are usually from 15 to 30 flowers in a spike. The inflorescence is densely flowered, the flowers overlapping on the spike. The specific epithet, rhodantha means bearing red flowers, originating from the Greek word rhodon, meaning a rose.

The leaves and bracts are buff-coloured here, showing no green (Pooley, 1998; www.orchidspecies.com).