Disa sagittalis inflorescence

The inflorescence of Disa sagittalis is small, its flower density variable.

The flowers in picture have their petals adorned with purple lines and spots; marginal on the laterals, central on the lip. The petals, usually erect, are here pushed sideways by the dominant median sepal that inclines downwards over the flower centre.

In the buds at the top the dull brown floral bracts still reach to cover the emerging corollas. As the ovary develops it elongates, outstripping the bract growth, so that a bract only covers about half of the ovary’s length on an open flower (as on the right in the photo).

The channels on the lateral sepals and the lip (seen on the flower on the left in the photo) appear similar, but for the purple central line on the lip (Liltved and Johnson, 2012; Pooley, 1998).