Eulophia parviflora flower

The maroon-brown, cream and yellow flowers of Eulophia parviflora are borne in a lax spike, from five to thirty per inflorescence. The spreading sepals are maroon on the inside with a varying presence of scattered greenish markings, sometimes paler than seen here. The outside surfaces are green. The dorsal sepal is reflexed out of sight in the photo.

The oblique blades of the lateral petals curve forward in their upper parts, above the flower centre. They are pale cream with maroon veins branching and streaking from the base to the margins.

The central lip lobe is large and bright yellow with longitudinal ridges; the lateral lobes are smaller, erect beside the column and brick-red in colour. There is a small, bluntly conical spur at the back of the lip, becoming up to 5 mm long. Flowers with short spurs tend to grow inland, those with long spurs at the coast, the flowering seasons also differing.

Flower diameter is about 3 cm. The specific name, parviflora, means small flowers in Latin. The flowers are pleasantly scented. They arrive mainly in spring (Liltved and Johnson, 2012; Pooley, 1998; www.zimbabweflora.co.zw).