Disa is a genus in the family Orchidaceae and is mostly found in southern and eastern Africa. Species are deciduous or evergreen terrestrial plants with both tuberous and stoloniferous root systems. They are found from sea level to about 7000 feet. They grow in full sun to partial shade. They seem to require regardless of their growing conditions that their roots remain cool and moist. While there are about 200 different species known, only a few are commonly grown. The easily grown evergreen species include Disa uniflora, Disa cardinalis, Disa aurata, Disa tripetaloides, Disa racemosa, Disa venosa, and Disa caulescens. Not much is known about the growth habit of most of these species.
Disa aconitoides is found in grassland and forest margins from the Southern Cape to Malawi. Flowers are white to pale mauve with darker spots and with a deeply hooded upper petal. Photo by Cameron McMaster.
Disa bracteata is found in moist, open, sandy places on flats and in mountains and in disturbed grassland and roadsdes in the Western and Eastern Cape, South Africa. Growing from 15 to 50 cm, it has many small greenish tinged maroon flowers in a dense spike and blooms September to November. Photos taken by Cameron McMaster near Napier in the Overberg.
Disa brevicornis is found in grassland from Knysna in the southern Cape to Malawi. Flowers in a dense spike are brown and green. Photo by Cameron McMaster taken at Mt. Kubusie in the Amatola Mountains, Eastern Cape, South Africa.
Disa cardinalis is an evergreen species that grows from 30 to 60 cm. tall in the southern Cape and has attractive bright red flowers and blooms October to December. Photo by Ragnhild Crawford.
Disa crassicornis , a deciduous species found in damp grassland, or forest margins and rock ledges from the Eastern Cape, Transkei, Lesotho and KwaZulu-Natal, is summer growing. It has large sweetly scented white to cream flowers with purple or pink markings. It is a very attractive species, but difficult to cultivate. Photos by Cameron McMaster. The second was taken at Mt. Kubusie in the Amatola Mountains of the Eastern Cape.
Disa chrysostachya is a species found in damp grassland and marshy areas from Knysna to Mpumalanga. It is known as the red or yellow torch orchid and has a spike-like inflorescence of densely packed yellow to red or pink flowers. Photos by Cameron McMaster.
Disa graminifolia Ker Gawl. ex Spreng., syn. Herschelianthe graminifolia is a species with 4 to 6 basal grasslike leaves and 2 to 6 sweetly scented flowers with bright blue to violet-purple sepals, petals that are mauve-purple and green, and a purple-violet streaked lip. It grows from 50 cm to 1 meter and is found on dry sunny mountain slopes in dense vegetation in the southwestern Cape. It blooms January to March and is pollinated by carpenter bees. Photos by Ragnhild Crawford and Cameron McMaster taken at Napier in the Overberg.
Disa lugens, syn. Herschelianthe lugens is found on sandstone slopes from the Cape peninsula to Grahamstown. Cream-green flowers appear in spring. Photo by Cameron McMaster.
Disa patula is found on montane grassland from the Eastern Cape to Zimbabwe. It has pale to bright pink flowers with purplish spots and a round pointed spur. Photo by Cameron McMaster taken on Mt. Kubusie in the Amatola Mountains, Eastern Cape.
Disa pulchra is a deciduous species from the Eastern Cape, Transkei and KwaZulu-Natal found on stony grassland. It is summer growing with bright pink flowers. Photos from Cameron McMaster taken in the Amatola Mountains of the Eastern Cape including a close-up showing the detail of a flower.
Disa sagittalis is an almost evergreen species found on rocks, along streams, growing in shade in the Southern and Eastern Cape, Transkei and southern Natal. Flowers are small, white to mauve with darker petals. Photo by Cameron McMaster taken at Mt.Thomas in the Amatola Mountains in the Eastern Cape, South Africa.
Disa stricta is found on grassy slopes and damp floodplains. Flowers are pink to lilac with a darker lip. Photo by Cameron McMaster taken on Mt. Thomas in the Eastern Cape in the Amatola Mountains, South Africa.
Disa thodei is a slender species growing to 300 mm found along streams, in damp alpine grassland in the Eastern Cape and in KwaZulu-Natal from 1800 to 3000 meters. It has 3 to 8 white to mauve mottled pink flowers and is strongly scented. This species blooms December to January. Photos taken in January at Tiffendell and Naude's Nek by Cameron McMaster and at Naude's Nek by Bob Rutemoeller, and Mary Sue Ittner.
Disa uniflora or The Pride of Table Mountain is probably the most noteworthy example of the genus. It is an evergreen species from the western and southwestern Cape of South Africa. Growing to a height of around three feet, and commonly bearing up to six, 4 to 5 inch red, orange or pink flowers, it can be truly a gorgeous sight.
The first two photos are of Disa uniflora in a Kirstenbosch greenhouse. The next two show different striking cultivars. The first four photos by Rogan Roth and the last from Ragnhild Crawford taken at Betty's Bay.
Disa versicolor grows in grassland in tropical and southern Africa from the Eastern Cape to Angoloa and Zimbabwe. It grows to 70 cm. and has flowers crowded in a dense spike that are pink in bud, but soon turn brown. It flowers December to February. Photo by Cameron McMaster taken on Mt. Thomas in the Eastern Cape in the Amatola Mountains, South Africa.
More information about Disa can be found on this web site