Disa hallackii

Disa hallackii is a robust, tuberous geophyte reaching 50 cm in height.

The imbricate (overlapping) leaves are lance-shaped and acute-tipped, sheathing the stem and continuing up to the inflorescence. They ascend around the stem, their margins slightly wavy and sometimes red. There may also be red blotches on both the stem and the lower parts of the outer leaf surfaces low down on the plant.

The species is distributed along the coast of the Western and Eastern Cape from Saldanha to Port Elizabeth.

The plants grow in fynbos and scrub in coastal sand, confined to low elevations. The species is both naturally rare and considered to be threatened in its habitat early in the twenty first century. This is mainly due to much development and human activity along this popular coastline (Liltved and Johnson, 2012; Privett and Lutzeyer, 2010; iNaturalist; http://redlist.sanbi.org).