About Eulophia guineensis Lindl.
Eulophia guineensis Lindl. is a medium to large-sized terrestrial orchid. It produces clustered ovoid pseudobulbs with two or three nodes; these pseudobulbs usually grow underground, but sometimes grow on the soil surface. Each pseudobulb produces two to four thin-textured, elliptic to broadly lanceolate plicate leaves with sunken veins. The inflorescence can grow up to 100 cm (3 ft) tall, and holds up to 45 flowers of varying sizes arranged either laxly or densely packed. The flowers are showy and waxy, with a fragrant scent, and bloom in autumn and early winter. They have a pinkish-purple lip, whitish base and spur, and purplish-brown sepals and petals. The ovate-lanceolate floral bracts grow up to 20 mm (0.8 in) long, while the slender pedicel and ovary reach up to 25 mm (1.0 in) in length. This species is native to the Cape Verde Islands, Benin, Burkina Faso, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo, Burundi, Central African Republic, Cameroon, Congo, Gabon, Rwanda, Zaire, Chad, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Sudan, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Angola, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Oman, Saudi Arabia and Yemen. It typically grows in woodland or scrub, at altitudes between 600 and 2,000 m (2,000 to 6,600 ft), in shade or semi-shade on poor rocky soils.
