Disa rungweensis flower

The flower of Disa rungweensis is nearly globular, except for two notably protruding parts:

Above the globular hood there is the curious, erect spur, ending in a swollen, shoe-shaped yellow tip that is both shiny from large surface cells and faintly translucent. It grows from the back of the dorsal sepal, consistent with Disa genus flower structure.

Below (to the right), the tiny lip of the flower peeps out between the pair of earmuff-like lateral sepals. The lip is cream coloured with a slightly widened part near its rounded tip that sags a little.

D. rungweensis flower colour varies between yellow-green and pinkish-purple. In the photo the top part of the notably twisted ovary has more colour, purplish brown in various shades, than the corolla.

The whitish edge of what should be a lateral petal, curved and angled, peeps out from inside the globular hood (www.orchidspecies.com; www.nyika-vwaza-trust.org).