Habenaria gibsonii var. foetida Blatt. & McCann
In J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 36: 16 (1932)
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Habenaria foliosa var. foetida (Blatt. & McCann) Bennet, J. Econ. Taxon. Bot. 5: 452 (1984);
Ecology: Terrestrial herbs, 15-45 cm tall. Found in evergreen as well as semevergreen forest on moist humus rich soil under dense shades of trees
Tuber: usually one, somewhat cylindrical, about 2·5 cm in diameter
Leaves: 3·5- 15X 1'5-3'5 cm, alternate, pentastichous, ovate to oblong-lanceolate, acute rarely subacuminate ; margins wavy, paler in colour.
Inflorescence: 5-15 cm long, lax, secund or subsecund.
Flowers white, bracteate, not foul-smelling in the evening, very shortly stalked.
Bract 30-33x 7 mm, longer than the flowers, pale green, sheathing more than three fourths of the ovary, ovate-lanceolate, acute or subacuminate.
Sepals: unequal; Dorsal sepal ovate oblong, greenish white, 6-7x 3-5 mm ; concave three nerved lateral sepals 8-9x 3 mm; three nerved, white yellowish tinged
Petals: white, bipartite nearly to the base ; segments of petals 8x2mm filiform about equal, or the lower slightly longer
Labellum white, 3-partite nearly to the base; lateral segments 11·5x 1·5 mm, linear, acute to subacuminate, decurved , downwards along the midsegment, the apices rarely diverging; midsegment 16x 1-1·5 mm, linear, acuminate, often a little abruptly curved at the apex
Spur 1·7 cm long, white, slightly longer than or equalling the ovary, ending in a clavate, green, obtuse, apex; mouth of the spur unliguled, broadly infundibuliform
Column: 3mm; anther cells diverging 2-3 mm long, white;
pollinia ovoid, subfalcate, 1·8x 1 mm, yellow: biloed, wIth a 2mm long caudicle and a small kidney-shaped gland; staminodes 2, elliptIcal with wavy margins, pale green.
Stigmatic processes 2, about 2 mm long, somewhat ligulate, slightly curved at the apex, white, rostellum green, 3-lobed. Ovary green, 1-3 cm long, slightly curved, ribbed.
Capsule 5- 8mm oblong ovate beaked ribbed, partly covered with bracts upto maturity
Flowering July to August.
Fruiting End of July to September.
