Orchis burmanniana Linnaeus

Greig Russell

Current Name

Bartholina burmanniana (L.) Ker-Gawl

Latin Description

Fig. 1. Carl von Linné, Plantae Rariores Africanae : 26 (1760).

ORCHIS burmanniana bulbis indivisis, nectarii labello multi-partito-lineari, folio amplexcauli cordato.

Bulbi testiculati. Scapus nudus, spithameus, villosus. Folium unicum, subradicale, amplexicaule, cordatum, obtusum, punctatum. Spatha cucullata, brevissima, uniflora. Germen hirtum, spatha longius. Corollae Petala tria exteriora, lanceolata, pilosa. Petala duo ensiformia laevia longiora. Labellum latum, longum, multipartitum in innumeras lacinias lineares. Cornu posticum rectum, deorsum curvatum, vix germinis longitudine.

English Translation

ORCHIS burmanniana bulbs undivided, lip of the nectary much-linearly-divided, leaf stem-clasping cordate.

Bulbs testicular. Scape bare, a span high, villose. Leaf single, sub-radical, amplexicaul, cordate, obtuse, punctate. Spathe hooded, very short, single-flowered. Ovary shaggy, longer than spathe. Corolla sepals three lanceolate, pilose. Petals two ensiform smooth longer. Lip broad, long, multi-partite in countless linear laciniae. Spur behind straight, curved downwards, scarcely of the length of the ovary.

Notes

Fig. 2. Bartholina burmanniana -- The Spider Orchid. This illustration is taken from Rice, Elsie Garrett & Compton, R.H., Wild Flowers of the Cape of Good Hope. Kirstenbosch: Botanical Society of South Africa, (1950). The author wishes to thank the Botanical Society of South Africa for granting permission to use this illustration.

This is a good unambiguous description of the species now known as Bartholina burmanniana (Fig. 2), except for the use of the word "punctate" to describe the leaves. The latter may be an herbarium artefact. The only other species to which this description may refer would be Bartholina etheliae, however that species is characterised by the presence of clavate tips to the filiform lip segments - a characteristic not mentioned in the above Linnaean description.

Web Links

Below are of some Webpages where images or notes concerning Bartholina burmanniana may be found on the WWW.

From the Linnaean Plant Names Database of the The Linnaean Plant Name Typification Project of the Natural History Museum in London, the relevant page with an image of the Lectotype of this species can be found by clicking HERE.

You can see the current taxonomic view of Bartholina burmanniana by clicking going to the World Checklist of Selected Plant Names (Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew) and inserting "bartholina burmanniana" into the search field.

You can see a list of recent published illustrations of Bartholina burmanniana from the Orchid Pictures Query of the London Orchid Society (Ontario, Canada) by clicking HERE and inserting "bartholina burmanniana" into the search field. Currently (1 August, 2005) there are seven references given.

The site http://www.disas.com/john_duff.htm has our subject, with a superb picture near the bottom of the page.

The site http://www.plantzafrica.com/plantnop/orchids/genera.htm has a nice picture and a brief mention of the genus under the "Mainly winter-rainfall area orchids (Western Cape)" section.

A so-so picture (http://www.orchideensammlung.de/gattungen/bartholina/Bartholina_burmanniana.jpg) of the species is on a German site - "Orchideen Sammlung", with the same picture and some brief notes in German on the page: http://members.fortunecity.de/orchideensammlung/orchideen-orchids-gattungsordner/bartholina-orchideen-orchids/bartholina.htm.

The Russian page http://epiphyte.ru/articles/2004/07/30/193/imagepages/image4.html carries a copy of the Curtis plate 7450 mentioned above.

The early history of orchids at Kew on the page http://www.ionopsis.com/history.htm includes mention of our subject.

References

Bolus, H. Icones Orchidearum Austro-africanorum Extratropicarum 3. London : Wesley & Sons. (1913) t. 14.

________. The Orchids of the Cape Peninsula, 2nd edition. Cape Town : Darter Bros. & Co. (1918) t. 8.

Curtis's Botanical Magazine, t. 7450.

Drège. Zwei Pflanz. Documente, pp. 81 & 121.

Duncan, Graham. Curtis's Botanical Magazine, Volume 22, Number 1, February 2005, pp. 25-31(7) t. 515

Linder, H.P. & Kurzweil, H. Orchids of Southern Africa, Rotterdam/Brookfield : A.A. Balkema, (1999) pp. 94-96.

Lindley, J. Botanical Register, t.1653.

________. Genera & Species of Orchidaceous Plants, London : Ridgeways. Part V. (1838) p. 334.

________. Hooker's Companion to the Botanical Magazine, 2:210.

Linnaean Plant Names Database. Natural History Museum (London).

Linné, Carl von, 1760. Plantae Rariores Africanae : 26.

Schelpe, E.A. An Introduction to the South African Orchids, Cape Town/Johannesburg : Purnell & Sons (S.A.), (1966) p. 64-65.

Stewart , J et al. Wild orchids of Southern Africa, Johannesburg : McMillan South Africa, (1982) p. 66, pl. 2.1.