''Bartholina'' is an orchid genus native to

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

and

Namibia Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...

.Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
/ref> A member of the

Fynbos Fynbos (; , ) is a small belt of natural shrubland or heathland vegetation located in the Western Cape and Eastern Cape provinces of South Africa. The area is predominantly coastal and mountainous, with a Mediterranean climate. The fynbos ...

plant kingdom, ''Bartholina'' is also known as the "spider orchid". The common name comes from the array of long, narrow petal lobes that surround the flower, said to resemble the legs of a spider. The genus is named after the seventeenth century Danish scientist

Thomas Bartholin Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the A ...

. Two species are recognized: * '' Bartholina burmanniana'' (L.) Ker Gawl. (syn, ''Bartholina pectinata'') -

Cape Province The Province of the Cape of Good Hope (), commonly referred to as the Cape Province () and colloquially as The Cape (), was a province in the Union of South Africa and subsequently the Republic of South Africa. It encompassed the old Cape Co ...

* '' Bartholina etheliae'' Bolus -

and

References

External links

* * Orchideae genera Orchids of South Africa Flora of Namibia {{Orchidoideae-stub