Bletia meridana (Rchb.f.) Garay & Dunst. 1976
TYPE Drawing by © Dunsterville & Garay
TYPE Drawing by © Padre Pedro Ortiz Valdivieso
Common Name The Merida Bletia [A state of northwest Venezuela]
Flower Size .48" [1.2 cm]
Found in northern Venezuela and and northeast Colombia on roadside banks or grassy slopes at elevations of 1000 to 1300 meters as a small to medium sized, cool growing terrestrial with subglobose corms bearing a single, erect, narrow, acute, plicate, not present at blooming leaves that blooms on an erect, stout, terete, light green, from the apex of the corm, peduncle to 22" [55 cm] lomg, provided with a few nervose sheaths in the lower part, to 30" [75 cm] long, shortly branched towards the apex, rachis 8" [20 cm] long, few flowered inflorescence carrying flowers with white to pink flushed white flowers with many nerved tepals, the sepals fleshy and with a tinge of green at the apices, the petals strongly concave and cannot be spread without breaking,the lip has a white midlobe while the rest is yellow.
B meridana is similar to B candida but easily separted the lip that is three lobesd near the midddle and B candida that is three lobed above the middle. Also floral bracts of B meridana is much shorter .08 vs .28" [2 to 3 mm vs 7 mm], the dorsal sepal os obtuse vs acute to subacute and the petals are wider .16 to .32 vs .3 to .4" [4 to 8 mm vs 7.5 to 10 mm].
Synonyms *Bletia florida var. meridana Rchb.f. 1854
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ;
Bonplandia (Hannover) 2: 22 Rchb.f 1854 as B florida var meridana
*Venezuelan Orchids Vol 6 Dunsterville & Garay 1976 drawing fide;
Orchids, A Colombian Treasure Vol 1 Ortiz & Uribe 2014 drawing/photo fide;
Materials to the Orchid Flora of Colombia Vol IV Szlatchetko & Kolanowska 2023 drawing fide
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