Cochlioda vulcanica (Rchb. f.) Benth. & Hook. f. ex B.D. Jacks.1893 Photo courtesy of Jay Pfahl

LATE to

Common Name or Meaning The Volcano Cochlioda

Flower Size 1 3/4" [4 cm]

Found at elevations of 1400 to 3000 meters in Colombia, Ecuador and Peru as a cool growing, caespiotse, bifoliate lithophyte, on cliff faces, or epiphyte in the lower reaches of the damp cloud forest high up on exposed branches with an ovoid, laterally compressed psuedobulb having a single, apical, oblong, attenuate to a short, conduplicate petiole, acute leaf that blooms on an basal, axillary, erect to arcuate, to 12" [30 cm] long, racemose inflorescence that is much longer than the leaves and subtended by a leaf or dried leaf sheath with many [6 to 18], widely opening flowers occuring in the late summer and fall on mature psuedobulbs. This species is pollinated by hummingbirds.

Synonyms Cochlioda vulcanica var. splendens Froebel ex Cogn. 1898; *Mesospinidium vulcanicum Rchb. f. 1872

References W3 Tropicos Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; Orchid Species Culture: Oncidium, Bakers 2006; The Pictoral Encyclopedia of Oncidium Zelenko 2005; Icones Planetarum Tropicarum Plate 416 Dodson 1982; Icones Orchidacearum Peruviarum Plate 019 Bennett & Christenson 1993

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------