Rhizomatous perennial herbs. Leaves spirally arranged on a true aerial stem (afer), or 4 in a cross-shaped rosette appressed to the ground (macranthus and spectabilis). Inflorescence usually condensed into subspherical cone-like spikes either terminal or arising from the rhizome. Petals 3. Labellum petaloid. Fruit a berry, crowned by the persistent calyx. Worldwide: c. 110 species in the tropics; c. 25 in tropical Africa. Zimbabwe: 1 cultivated taxon. |
No image of a cultivated species but there is an image of a native or naturalised species |