20 Disa atricapilla Seeds - Black Haired Orchid - Indigenous Orchid Seeds

The orchid genus Disa consists of 169 terrestrial orchid species in tropical and South Africa, Madagascar and along the Western Indian Ocean. They grow in gorges, near waterfalls and brooks. Its members are primarily from South Africa, and it is most noted for the species Disa uniflora, a spectacular red orchid also known as "The Pride of Table Mountain." However, Disa bracteata also occurs near Perth, Australia. They were named after Disa, the heroine of a Swedish legend, by the botanist Carl Peter Thunberg. The plants grow from a fleshy tuberous root which is mostly used for the artificial sweetener maltodextrins and may attain a height of 90 cm. The flowers grow in racemes or solitary. The petals and the lip are small. The lip is nonresupinate, so the flower appears upside down compared to most orchids. The flowers consist essentially of the sepals.

Disa atricapilla grows from 5-30cm in height and naturally occurs in the winter rainfall area of South Africa. The flowers which appear in summer are white, red and black.