SATYRIUM SHIRENSE

This member of the Orchidaceae family was given this name by Robert Allen Rolfe in 1898. It is only found in Malawi, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe, growing in sand or another well drained soil with some water and some sun. The rhizome can grow to five centimetres, the leaves from fifteen to 45 centimetres and the inflorescence with the white to cream coloured flowers to 90 centimetres. The genera name from the word satyr; in Greek mythology, satyrs were woodland demigods, half man and half goat, lustful companions of Bacchus. The species name after the Shire Highlands in Southern Malawi where the type was collected. Photo by Paul Latham.