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Egoli Hair Orchid
Holothrix micrantha
Holothrix micrantha is an orchid endemic to Gauteng, South Africa which was last seen in 1925. It is listed on the Red List of South African Plants as "Critically Endangered" and is regarded as possibly extinct— a result of the long absence since it was last recorded given searches have been undertaken in suitable habitat.
From the article Holothrix micrantha on Wikipedia (CC BY-SA), quoted section by section
Description
It is described as closely resembling Holothrix incurva but smaller, having a denser spike and petals of less than 5mm. The scape has long, straight hairs without bracts; sepals with a few hairs at the tips; petals are undivided with carnose tips; leaves are pilose and withered at flowering; lips carnose divided into five linear, acute lobes; spur broadly conical, curved. Holothrix micrantha flowers between September and October.
Range & habitat
Rudolf Schlechter located this species in 1893 on grassy cliffs above Heidelberg at an altitude of around 1800m. Two other possible observations were located from Modderfontein and from a marsh in Killarney; although neither of these have been confirmed. Urban expansion is blamed for destroying subpopulations, however, intact habitat remains in the Suikerbosrand nature reserve; other threats include inappropriate fire management as well as alien invasive plants.
== References ==
Wikipedia: “Distribution”
Where it lives
Recorded sightings
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geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
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In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Holothrix micrantha in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 587535.