Orchidaceae
Eulophia

Eulophia aculeata (L.f.) Spreng.

First published in Syst. Veg., ed. 16. 3: 720 (1826)
This species is accepted
The native range of this species is S. Africa. It is a pseudobulbous geophyte and grows primarily in the subtropical biome.

Descriptions

General Description

Terrestrial herb.Perennating organs subterranean, tuberous, forming a chain.Leaves 2–3, erect, 12–60 × 0.2–2.5 cm, linear, ribbed, partly to fully developed at flowering time.Inflorescence 20–45 cm tall, fairly densely several- to many-flowered; scape stout, with several loose sheaths.Pedicel and ovary c. 10 mm long; bracts similar or slightly longer, narrowly lanceolate, acuminate.Flowers not opening wide, yellow-green or green, the lip marked with purple, sometimes predominantly purple.Sepals 10–15 × 5 mm, lanceolate, acute.Petals c. 12 × 5.5 mm, elliptic, obtuse.Lip 10 × 10 mm when flattened, 3-lobed; mid-lobe c. 4 × 5 mm, suborbicular, concave; callus of 2–3 basal ridges with some short, stout papillae on the basal part of the mid-lobe; spur absent.Column 4–6 mm long, stout.

Habitat

Submontane grasslands and vlei margins

[E-EM]

Extinction risk predictions for the world's flowering plants to support their conservation (2024). Bachman, S.P., Brown, M.J.M., Leão, T.C.C., Lughadha, E.N., Walker, B.E. https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/nph.19592

Conservation
Predicted extinction risk: not threatened. Confidence: confident
[AERP]

Sources

  • Angiosperm Extinction Risk Predictions v1

    • Angiosperm Threat Predictions
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

  • Eulophiinae: e-monocot.org

    • All Rights Reserved

  • Herbarium Catalogue Specimens

    • 'The Herbarium Catalogue, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published on the Internet http://www.kew.org/herbcat [accessed on Day Month Year]'. Please enter the date on which you consulted the system.
    • Digital Image © Board of Trustees, RBG Kew http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

  • Kew Backbone Distributions

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2025. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Names and Taxonomic Backbone

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2025. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0