Zulu names: unoklamu, unokleshe, uklamkleshe

According to Elsa Pooley’s Wildflowers of KwaZulu Natal, the underground tuber of this orchid is edible.  Many of the Satyrium genus are used in traditional medicine – usually mixed with other plants and particularly for illnesses that are difficult to cure.  33 species occur in South Africa, some are used in infusions to ward off evil.

The name of this plant is very descriptive – satyrium from satyros (half man, half goat) referring to the two spurs which resemble horns, and macrophyllum – referring to the large light-green leaves at the base. 

With the dense inflorescence (up to 22cm) of deep pink flowers Satyrium macrophyllum can reach 80cm tall during late summer.

It occurs in moist grassland all over KZN and the Eastern Cape – and all the way up to Kenya. The photos above were taken in Impendle Nature Reserve in March and the one below on Beacon Hill in Howick during April.