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Red Disa

Disa uniflora

Also called Pride Of Table Mountain, Flower Of The Gods, Large Red Disa

Red Disa
Photo: Magdapienaar, CC BY-SA 4.0

Red disa is a South African terrestrial orchid, the type species of the genus Disa, that grows wild in cool, wet seeps and streamsides on the sandstone mountains of the south-western Cape. It is hard to keep in cultivation and is usually left in the wild.

Family
Orchidaceae (Orchid family)
Grows as
Orchid
Light
Part shade
Water
Keep the growing medium consistently moist during the growing season, never waterlogged for long periods.
Soil
Acidic, sandy, free-draining but moisture-retentive mix with peat or leaf mould.
Temperature
Cool to mild, about 10–22 °C; protect from frost and sustained heat.
How easy
Hard
Native range
SW. Cape Prov.
Climate
subtropical

About

Disa uniflora, the red disa or pride of Table Mountain, is a South African species of orchid in the family Orchidaceae. It is the type species of the genus Disa, and one of its best-known members. It is occasionally referred to by its old name Disa grandiflora.

Where it grows

Its range is restricted to the Sandstone Mountains of the South Western Cape, South Africa, west of Hermanus to Table Mountain and northwards into the Cederberg Mountains. It is common on Table Mountain, and the Back Table, but is rarely seen further south on the Cape Peninsula. The orchid grows near waterfalls, streamlets, and seeps in the mountains. It is, however, never found along the shores of dams whose water levels vary considerably during the year.

Other Disa plants

Disa alinae · Golden Cob Disa

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Disa uniflora by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.

The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.

Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.

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