Orthochilus aculeatus subsp. huttonii

Orthochilus aculeatus subsp. huttonii is commonly called lekholela in Southern Sotho, sometimes goes by the common name of the spurred pointed harlequin, and scientifically previously known as Eulophia aculeata subsp. huttonii and E. huttonii respectively. The plant is a terrestrial perennial, upright and slender, reaching heights from 6 cm to 65 cm. The stiffly erect leaves are partly to fully grown when the plant flowers.

In the photo the three sepals of the open flower are positioned widest around the inner floral parts. The lateral pair of sepals are brown, stretched sideways like long arms, their tips incurving, brown on both surfaces. The dorsal sepal over the top of the flower is hooded or falcon-like, white inside and brown outside. The two lateral petals are similar in appearance to the sepals, angled up and to the sides. One of their tiny yellow tips is visible. Below the flower centre the blue ridges on the protruding lip make it unmistakeable.

Above the lip, the erect, forward curving column where the vital floral components are housed ends halfway up to the dorsal sepal, whitish with a brown protrusion on top. The column is the fused reproductive structure typical of orchids flowers, formed from stamens and pistil. In this species the column is tipped by a little brown, nodular structure, the anther cap that covers the pollinarium. It is chestnut‑brown to dark maroon, rounded or slightly beaked, often resembling a tiny wart or helmet. 

The species distribution is in the east and centre of South Africa, from the Eastern Cape and the Free State to KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga, as well as in some neighbouring countries.

The habitat is grassland at elevations from 1500 m to 2600 m. The habitat population is deemed of least concern early in the twenty first century (Germishuizen and Clarke, 2003; Pooley, 1998; iNaturalist; https://www.orchidspecies.com; http://redlist.sanbi.org).