10 Bonatea speciosa Seeds - Green Wood Orchid - Indigenous Orchid Seeds

Bonatea speciosa, a terrestrial orchid, is admired for its delicate, somewhat bizarre, green and white flowers. It is also comparatively easy to grow both in pots and in flowerbeds in the garden which has added to its popularity.

Bonatea was described by the German botanist Carl Ludwig Willdenow in 1805, and named after Guiseppe Bonato, who was professor of botany at Padua in Italy . Currently about 20 species are known in the genus, all of them occurring in mainland Africa with one species ranging into Yemen . Bonatea was at times included in the genus Habenaria with which it shares most of its characters (Kurzweil & Weber 1992). Bonatea differs from Habenaria in the basal fusion of the lateral sepals, anterior petal lobes, lip and stigma processes; the presence of a tooth-like structure in the spur-mouth; and the tall and hood-like central rostellum lobe. The species B. speciosa is one of the more widespread members of the genus, and its species name alludes to the attractive flowers: speciosa means beautiful.