The orchid genus Disa consists of 169 terrestrial orchid species in tropical and South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

, Madagascar and along the Western Indian Ocean

Indian Ocean

The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...

. 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

Perth, Western Australia

Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....

, Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

.

They were named after Disa

Disa

Disa is the heroine of a Swedish legendary saga, which was documented by Olaus Magnus, in 1555. It is believed to be from the Middle Ages, but includes Old Norse themes....

, the heroine of a Swedish legend, by the botanist Carl Peter Thunberg

Carl Peter Thunberg

Carl Peter Thunberg aka Carl Pehr Thunberg aka Carl Per Thunberg was a Swedish naturalist and an apostle of Carl Linnaeus. He has been called "the father of South African botany" and the "Japanese Linnaeus"....

.

The plants grow from a fleshy tuberous root which is mostly used for the artificial sweetener maltodextrins

Dextrin

Dextrins are a group of low-molecular-weight carbohydrates produced by the hydrolysis of starch or glycogen. Dextrins are mixtures of polymers of D-glucose units linked by α- or α- glycosidic bonds....

 and may attain a height of 90 cm. The flower

Flower

A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to effect reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism for the union of sperm with eggs...

s grow in racemes or solitary. The petal

Petal

Petals are modified leaves that surround the reproductive parts of flowers. They often are brightly colored or unusually shaped to attract pollinators. Together, all of the petals of a flower are called a corolla. Petals are usually accompanied by another set of special leaves called sepals lying...

s and the lip

Labellum

Labellum is the Latin diminutive of labium, meaning lip. These are anatomical terms used descriptively in biology, for example in Entomology and botany.-Botany:...

 are small. The lip is nonresupinate, so the flower appears upside down compared to most orchids. The flowers consist essentially of the sepals. The flowers are colored in the whole range of red.

The orchids have usually a single species as pollinator

Pollinator

A pollinator is the biotic agent that moves pollen from the male anthers of a flower to the female stigma of a flower to accomplish fertilization or syngamy of the female gamete in the ovule of the flower by the male gamete from the pollen grain...

. The evolution in Disa has gone a different way. Disa has used nearly all major pollinating insects. Furthermore, unrelated clade

Clade

A clade is a group consisting of a species and all its descendants. In the terms of biological systematics, a clade is a single "branch" on the "tree of life". The idea that such a "natural group" of organisms should be grouped together and given a taxonomic name is central to biological...

s have evolved more than once into rather similar pollination systems :

• flowers pollinated by butterflies
  Butterfly
  A butterfly is a mainly day-flying insect of the order Lepidoptera, which includes the butterflies and moths. Like other holometabolous insects, the butterfly's life cycle consists of four parts: egg, larva, pupa and adult. Most species are diurnal. Butterflies have large, often brightly coloured...
  
   have evolved twice, for example the pollination of Disa uniflora by the Table mountain Pride Butterfly Aeropetes tulbaghia (Satyrinae
  Satyrinae
  Satyrinae, the satyrines or satyrids, commonly known as the Browns, is a subfamily of the Nymphalidae . They were formerly considered a distinct family, Satyridae. This group contains nearly half of the known diversity of brush-footed butterflies...
  
  )
• flowers with conspicuous deception
  Deception
  Deception, beguilement, deceit, bluff, mystification, bad faith, and subterfuge are acts to propagate beliefs that are not true, or not the whole truth . Deception can involve dissimulation, propaganda, and sleight of hand. It can employ distraction, camouflage or concealment...
  
  , pollinated by carpenter bee
  Carpenter bee
  Carpenter bees are large, hairy bees distributed worldwide. There are some 500 species of carpenter bee in 31 subgenera...
  
  s, have evolved twice.
• long-spurred flowers, pollinated by long-tongued flies
  Fly
  True flies are insects of the order Diptera . They possess a pair of wings on the mesothorax and a pair of halteres, derived from the hind wings, on the metathorax...
  
  , have evolved four times.
• night-scented flowers, pollinated by moth
  Moth
  A moth is an insect closely related to the butterfly, both being of the order Lepidoptera. Moths form the majority of this order; there are thought to be 150,000 to 250,000 different species of moth , with thousands of species yet to be described...
  
  s, have evolved three times.

This shows that a few pollinators in a region can force plant into diversification through repeated forward floral shifts.

Some Disa species are pollinated by sunbird

Sunbird

The sunbirds and spiderhunters are a family, Nectariniidae, of very small passerine birds. There are 132 species in 15 genera. The family is distributed throughout Africa, southern Asia and just reaches northern Australia. Most sunbirds feed largely on nectar, but also take insects and spiders,...

s and have pollinaria that stick to the feet of the sunbirds when the perch on the inflorescence.

Once very rare in cultivation, Disa uniflora is gaining in popularity as a cut flower. However, they are difficult to grow, because of the needed mineralogical composition of the potting soil. Also, as most species grow in very wet environments, they can be easily killed by rot in cultivation.

Species

• Disa aconitoides (Ethiopia to S. Africa)
  • Disa aconitoides subsp. aconitoides (Ethiopia to S. Africa). Tuber geophyte
  • Disa aconitoides subsp. concinna (Congo to S. Trop. Africa). Tuber geophyte
  • Disa aconitoides subsp. goetzeana (Ethiopia to Tanzania). Tuber geophyte
• Disa aequiloba (SW. Tanzania to Angola).
• Disa alinae (Congo).
• Disa alticola (Mpumalanga / East-Transvaal).
• Disa amoena ( Mpumalanga / East-Transvaal).
• Disa andringitrana (SE. & S. Madagascar).
• Disa aperta (SW. & S. Tanzania to Zambia).
• Disa arida (South Africa, S. Cape Prov.).
• Disa aristata (S. Africa, Northern Prov.).
• Disa atricapilla (South Africa, SW. Cape Prov.).
• Disa atrorubens (South Africa, SW. Cape Prov.).
• Disa aurata (South Africa, Cape Prov. (Swellendam).
• Disa barbata (South Africa, SW. Cape Prov.)
• Disa basutorum (S. Africa (Drakensberg).
• Disa baurii (Tanzania to S. Africa).
• Disa begleyi (South Africa, SW. Cape Prov.).
• Disa bivalvata (South Africa, SW. & S. Cape Prov.)
• Disa bodkinii (South Africa, SW. & S. Cape Prov.).
• Disa bolusiana (South Africa, SW. Cape Prov.).
• Disa borbonica (Réunion).
• Disa brachyceras (South Africa, SW. Cape Prov.).
• Disa bracteata
  Disa bracteata
  Disa bracteata is a species of orchid native to South Africa.It is the only orchid species which has naturalised in Australia. It was first recorded in Western Australia in 1944, in South Australia in 1988 and Victoria in 1994. There is also a single recording in Tasmania....
  
  (South Africa, SW. & S. Cape Prov.)
• Disa brevicornis (S. Trop. & S. Africa).
• Disa brevipetala (South Africa,SW. Cape Prov. (Kleinmond area).
• Disa buchenaviana (C. & SE. Madagascar).
• Disa caffra (Southern Congo to S. Africa, Madagascar).
• Disa cardinalis
  Disa cardinalis
  Disa cardinalis is a species of orchid...
  
  (South Africa, S. Cape Prov. (Riversdale).
• Disa caulescens (South Africa, SW. Cape Prov.)
• Disa cedarbergensis (South Africa, Cape Prov. (Cedarberg).
• Disa celata (S. Tanzania to Angola).
• Disa cephalotes (S. Africa).
  • Disa cephalotes subsp. cephalotes (S. Africa). Tuber geophyte
  • Disa cephalotes subsp. frigida (Lesotho to KwaZulu-Natal). Tuber geophyte
• Disa cernua
  Disa cernua
  Disa cernua is a species of orchid....
  
  (South Africa, SW. & S. Cape Prov.)
• Disa chimanimaniensis (S. Trop. Africa (Chimanimani Mts.).
• Disa chrysostachya (S. Africa)
• Disa clavicornis (Mpumalanga / East-Transvaal).
• Disa cochlearis (South Africa, Cape Prov. (Elandsberg).
• Disa comosa (South Africa,SW. & S. Cape Prov.)
• Disa conferta (South Africa, SW. Cape Prov.)
• Disa cooperi (S. Africa).
• Disa cornuta
  Disa cornuta
  Disa cornuta is a species of orchid....
  
  (Zimbabwe to S. Africa).
• Disa crassicornis (S. Africa).
• Disa cryptantha (Ethiopia, S. Tanzania to Zambia).
• Disa cylindrica (South Africa, SW. & S. Cape Prov.)
• Disa danielae (S. Congo).
• Disa densiflora (South Africa, SW. & S. Cape Prov.)
• Disa dichroa (S. Conngo to Zambia).
• Disa dracomontana (S. Africa (C. Drakensberg).
• Disa draconis
  Disa draconis
  Disa draconis is a species of orchid....
  
  (South Africa, SW. Cape Prov.)
• Disa ecalcarata (South Africa, SW. Cape Prov. (Constantiaberg).
• Disa elegans (South Africa, SW. Cape Prov.).
• Disa eminii (Rwanda to Zambia).
• Disa engleriana (Tanzania to Zambia)
• Disa equestris (Trop. Africa)
• Disa erubescens (Trop. Africa)
  • Disa erubescens subsp. carsonii (Tanzania to Zambia).
  • Disa erubescens subsp. erubescens (Trop. Africa) Tuber geophyte
• Disa esterhuyseniae (South Africa, WSW. Cape Prov.).
• Disa extinctoria (South Africa; Northern Prov., Swaziland).
• Disa fasciata (South Africa, SW. & S. Cape Prov.).
• Disa ferruginea (South Africa, SW. Cape Prov.)
• Disa filicornis (South Africa, SW. & S. Cape Prov.)
• Disa forcipata (South Africa, Cape Prov. (?).
• Disa forficaria (South Africa, SW. Cape Prov.)
• Disa fragrans (Ethiopia to S. Africa
  • Disa fragrans subsp. deckenii (NE. & E. Trop. Africa to Congo). Tuber geophyte
  • Disa fragrans subsp. fragrans (Tanzania to S. Africa).. Tuber geophyte
• Disa galpinii (South Africa, E. Cape Prov. To KwaZulu-Natal).
• Disa gladioliflora (South Africa, S. Cape Prov.).
  • Disa gladioliflora subsp. capricornis (South Africa, S. Cape Prov.) Tuber geophyte
  • Disa gladioliflora subsp. gladioliflora (South Africa, S. Cape Prov.) Tuber geophyte
• Disa glandulosa (South Africa, SW. & S. Cape Prov.).
• Disa graminifolia (South Africa, SW. & S. Cape Prov.)
• Disa hallackii (South Africa, SW. & S. Cape Prov.).
• Disa harveyana (South Africa, SW. Cape Prov.).
  • Disa harveyana subsp. harveyana (South Africa, SW. Cape Prov.). Tuber geophyte
  • Disa harveyana subsp. longicalcarata (South Africa, SW. Cape Prov.). Tuber geophyte
• Disa helenae (Zambia).
• Disa hians (South Africa, S. Cape Prov.)
• Disa hircicornis (Trop. & S. Africa).
• Disa incarnata (C. & SE. Madagascar).
• Disa intermedia (South Africa, Swaziland) .
• Disa introrsa (South Africa, SW. Cape Prov. (Skurweberge.
• Disa karooica (South Africa, NW. & C. Cape Prov.
• Disa katangensis (S. Congo to Angola) .
• Disa linderiana (South Africa, W. Cape Prov.).
• Disa lineata (South Africa, SW. Cape Prov.).
• Disa lisowskii (Congo).
• Disa longicornu (South Africa, SW. Cape Prov.)
• Disa longifolia (South Africa, SW. Cape Prov.).
• Disa longilabris (SW. Tanzania to N. Malawi).
• Disa lugens (South Africa, SW. & S. Cape Prov.)
  • Disa lugens var. lugens (South Africa, SW. & S. Cape Prov.) Tuber geophyte
  • Disa lugens var. nigrescens (South Africa, S. Cape Prov. (Oyster Bay). Tuber geophyte
• Disa macrostachya (South Africa W. Cape Prov. (Rooiberg)
• Disa maculata (South Africa, SW. Cape Prov.).
• Disa marlothii (South Africa, SW. & S. Cape Prov.
• Disa micropetala (South Africa, SW. & S. Cape Prov.)
• Disa miniata (SW. Tanzania to S. Trop. Africa).
• Disa minor (South Africa, SW. Cape Prov).
• Disa montana (South Africa, E. Cape Prov.)
• Disa multifida (South Africa, SW. Cape Prov.)
• Disa neglecta (South Africa, SW. Cape Prov. (Worcester).
• Disa nervosa (S. Africa)
• Disa newdigatae (South Africa, S. Cape Prov. (Knysna area).
• Disa nigerica (Nigeria to Congo).
• Disa nivea (S. Africa (S. Drakensberg).
• Disa nubigena (South Africa, SW. Cape Prov. (Devils Peak).
• Disa nyikensis (Malawi to Zambia).
• Disa obtusa (South Africa, SW. & S. Cape Prov.).
  • Disa obtusa subsp. hottentotica (South Africa, SW. Cape Prov.) Tuber geophyte
  • Disa obtusa subsp. obtusa (South Africa, SW. Cape Prov.) Tuber geophyte
  • Disa obtusa subsp. picta (South Africa, S. Cape Prov Tuber geophyte
• Disa ocellata (South Africa, SW. Cape Prov.)
• Disa ochrostachya (Cameroon to Tanzania and S. Trop. Africa)
• Disa oligantha (South Africa, SW. Cape Prov.)
• Disa ophrydea (South Africa, SW. & S. Cape Prov.)
• Disa oreophila (S. Africa) .
  • Disa oreophila subsp. erecta (South Africa, S. Africa (Drakensberg). Tuber geophyte
  • Disa oreophila subsp. oreophila (S. Africa. Tuber geophyte
• Disa ornithantha (SW. Tanzania to S. Trop. Africa).
• Disa ovalifolia (South Africa, WSW. Cape Prov.).
• Disa patula (Zimbabwe to S. Africa).
  • Disa patula var. patula (South Africa, E. Cape Prov. to Mpumalanga / East-Transvaal). Tuber geophyte
  • Disa patula var. transvaalensis (Zimbabwe to S. Africa). Tuber geophyte
• Disa perplexa (Nigeria, E. & S. Trop. Africa) .
• Disa physodes (South Africa, SW. Cape Prov.).
• Disa pillansii (South Africa, SW. Cape Prov.)
• Disa polygonoides (Mozambique to S. Africa)
• Disa porrecta (S. Africa).
• Disa praecox (S. Trop. Africa (Nyika Plateau).
• Disa pulchella (Ethiopia, Yemen).
• Disa pulchra (S. Africa).
• Disa purpurascens
  Disa purpurascens
  Disa purpurascens is a species of orchid....
  
  (South Africa, SW. Cape Prov.)

• Disa pygmaea (South Africa, SW. Cape Prov.).
• Disa racemosa (South Africa, SW. & S. Cape Prov.).
• Disa renziana (Congo).
• Disa reticulata (South Africa, SW. & S. Cape Prov.).
• Disa rhodantha (Zimbabwe to S. Africa).
• Disa richardiana (South Africa, SW. Cape Prov.)
• Disa robusta (EC. Trop. Africa).
• Disa roeperocharoides (S. Congo to Zambia).
• Disa rosea (South Africa, SW. Cape Prov.).
• Disa rufescens (South Africa, SW. Cape Prov.)
• Disa rungweensis (SW. Tanzania to Malawi).
• Disa sabulosa (South Africa, SW. Cape Prov.)
• Disa sagittalis
  Disa sagittalis
  Disa sagittalis is a species of orchid....
  
  (South Africa, S. & SE. Cape Prov. to S. KwaZulu-Natal).

• Disa salteri (South Africa, SW. Cape Prov).
• Disa sanguinea (South Africa, E. Cape Prov. to S .KwaZulu-Natal)
• Disa sankeyi ( S. Africa).
• Disa satyriopsis (Tanzania to Zambia)
• Disa saxicola (Tanzania to S. Africa).
• Disa schizodioides (South Africa, S. Cape Prov.).
• Disa schlechteriana (South Africa, SSW. Cape Prov. (Langeberg).
• Disa scullyi (South Africa, E. Cape Prov. to S. KwaZulu-Natal).
• Disa scutellifera (NE. & E. Trop. Africa).
• Disa similis (S. Trop. & S. Africa).
• Disa spathulata (South Africa, Cape Prov.)
  • Disa spathulata subsp. spathulata (South Africa, Cape Prov.) Tuber geophyte
  • Disa spathulata subsp. tripartita (South Africa, SW. Cape Prov.) Tuber geophyte
• Disa stachyoides (S. Africa)
• Disa stairsii
  Disa stairsii
  Disa stairsii is a species of Disa of the family Orchidaceae that can be found growing with the giant heathers on the Ruwenzori Mountains of mountains in East tropical Africa....
  
  (NE. Congo to E. Trop. Africa)
• Disa stricta (S. Africa).
• Disa subtenuicornis (South Africa, Cape Prov. (Riversdale.
• Disa telipogonis (South Africa, SW. Cape Prov.).
• Disa tenella (South Africa, Cape Prov.)
  • Disa tenella subsp. pusilla (South Africa, W. Cape Prov.) Tuber geophyte
  • Disa tenella subsp. tenella (South Africa, SW. Cape Prov.) Tuber geophyte
• Disa tenuicornis (South Africa, SW. Cape Prov.).
• Disa tenuifolia (South Africa, SW. Cape Prov.)
• Disa tenuis (South Africa, SW. Cape Prov.)
• Disa thodei (S. Africa, Eastern Cape to Drakensberg).
• Disa triloba (South Africa, SW. Cape Prov).
• Disa tripetaloides
  Disa tripetaloides
  Disa tripetaloides is a species of orchid that grows along the edges of streams in South Africa. This is one of the smaller species in the genus Disa in the section Disa. There are populations that come from the winter-rainfall areas of South Africa, and summer-rainfall areas of South Africa. It...
  
  (South Africa, SW. & S. Cape Prov. to S. KwaZulu-Natal).
• Disa tysonii (South Africa, S. & E. Cape Prov. to Leshoto).
• Disa ukingensis (S. Tanzania to E. Zambia).
• Disa uncinata (South Africa, SW. & S. Cape Prov.)
• Disa uniflora
  Disa uniflora
  Disa uniflora is a species of orchid from the Orchidoideae subfamily. It is the type species of the genus Disa, and one of the best-known species of this genus. It is native to South Africa, Cape Province. The Orchid grows near waterfalls, streamlets - Actually around moist places. It blooms during...
  
  (South Africa, SW. Cape Prov.)
• Disa vaginata (South Africa, SW. & S. Cape Prov.)
• Disa vasselotii (South Africa, S. Cape Prov.).
• Disa venosa (South Africa, SW. Cape Prov.)
• Disa venusta (South Africa, SW. & E. Cape Prov.).
• Disa verdickii (S. Congo to Angola).
• Disa versicolor (S. Trop. & S. Africa).
• Disa virginalis (South Africa, SW. Cape Prov.).
• Disa walleri (Burundi to S. Trop. Africa).
• Disa walteri (SW. Tanzania).
• Disa welwitschii (Trop. & S. Africa).
  • Disa welwitschii subsp. occultans (Trop. Africa)
  • Disa welwitschii subsp. welwitschii (Trop. & S. Africa) Tuber geophyte
• Disa woodii (Zimbabwe to S. Africa).
• Disa zimbabweensis (S. Trop. Africa to Mpumalanga / East-Transvaal).
• Disa zombica (Tanzania to S. Trop. Africa).
• Disa zuluensis (Mpumalanga / East-Transvaal, KwaZulu-Natal).

Hybrids

The following species have been used to create more than 80 hybrids : Disa cardinalis, Disa caulescens, Disa racemosa, Disa tripetaloides, Disa uniflora and Disa venosa.

• Disa × brendae (D. caulescens × D. uniflora) (South Africa, SW. Cape Prov.)
• Disa × maculomarronina (D. hircicornis × D. versicolor) (S. Africa)..
• Disa × nuwebergensis (D. caulescens × D. tripetaloides) (South Africa, Cape Prov.).
• Disa × paludicola (D. chrysostachya × D. rhodantha) (South Africa, KwaZulu-Natal).

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