Bonatea was described by the German botanist Carl Ludwig Willdenow in 1805, and named after Guiseppe Bonato, who was a professor of botany at the University of Padua in Italy. Currently about 20 species are known in the genus, all of them occurring in mainland Africa with one species ranging into Yemen. Bonatea was at times included in the genus Habenaria with which it shares most of its characters (Kurzweil & Weber 1992).

Bonatea steudneri, synonymously known as Habenaria steudneri, is a South African indigenous terrestrial orchid, up to 1 meter tall, found in the KwaZulu-Natal province but extends as far north as North-East Sudan and the South-Western Arabian Peninsula. It is a tuberous geophyte and grows primarily in the seasonally dry tropical biome. This species is well suited to pot culture as well as being planted in a rockery. Growing orchids from seed is a fairly specialized undertaking and it requires a bit of understanding of tissue culture techniques. If you have never grown orchids from seed we recommend that before attempting this you should first contact your local Orchid Society, or purchase a book on the subject, or both!