Dichaea laxa (Ruiz & Pav.) Poepp. & Endl. 1836 SECTION Dichaea

Photo by Copyright © Ecuagenera and their Ecuadorian Orchid Website

Common Name The Lax Dichaea

Flower Size

Found in Ecuador and Peru at elevations of 230 to 1250 meters as a large sized, hot to cool growing epiphyte with elongate, pendulous branching towards the apice stems carrying leathery, distichous, non-deciduous, dark olive green to coffee, reflexed, oblong, acute, apiculate, minutely fimbriate to denticulate margined leaves that blooms in the summer and fall on an axillary, short, single flowered inflorescence with a setose ovarycarrying early morning fragrant flowers.

Distinguished by the persistent leaves, the muricate ovary, the leaves with ciliate margins only near the apex, the leaves wothout apparent cross-veins, the ligule longer than .08"[2 mm], and large spreading flowers with sepals that are 2 x 1.5 cm and strongly fragrant of benzyl acetate at dawn.

Synonyms Dichaea maculata Poepp. & Endl. 1836; Dichaea muricata var. maculata (Poepp. & Endl.) C.Schweinf. 1953; Epithecia laxa (Ruiz & Pav.) Schltr. 1915; *Fernandezia laxa Ruiz & Pav. 1798

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; Ceiba Vol 5 L O Williams 1956 excluded; Orchids of Peru Vol 4 Schweinfurth 1961; Icones Planetarum Tropicarum Plate 439 Dodson 1989 drawing ok; Native Ecuadorian Orchids Vol 1 Dodson 1993 Drawing ok; Flora of Ecuador No 87 225[3] Orchidaceae Dodson & Luer 2010 drawing ok; Orquideas de Zamora Chinchipe Tomo 1 Epidendroidea 1 Jimenez y fil 2014 photo fide; Orchids, A Colombian Treasure Vol 1 Ortiz & Uribe 2014 drawing fide

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