Habenaria schomburgkii Lindl. ex Benth. 1843 SECTION Subnudas
Photo by © Cesar Fernandez
Drawing by © Dunsterville and Garay and The Swiss Orchid Foundation at the Jany Renz Herbaria Webpage
Common Name Schomburgk's Habenaria [German Orchid Collector in northern South America 1800's]
Flower Size .8" [2 cm]
Found in Surinam, Guyana and Venezuela in swamps and marshy places at elevations around 1000 to 2225 meters as a small to medium sized, warm to cold growing terrestrial with elliptic-ovoid tubers giving rise to an erect, smooth, slender stem carrying 4 to 7, very narrow, conduplicate, linear-lanceolate, acute to shortly acuminate leaves grading to bracts above, that blooms on a terminal, erect, 1.2 to 5.2" [3 to 13 cm] long, laxly 3 to 7 flowered inflorescence with lanceoalte, acuminate, shorter than the ovary floral bracts.
Similar in habit and can be confused as either, H setacea or H rodriguezii but can be separated from both by the peculiar rostellum middle lobe and the patent leaves versus adpressed to the stem. It additionally differs from H rodiguezii by the acute spur versus blunt and the petals nearly bipartite nearly to the base versus petals bipartite distinctly above the base. H schomburgkii is distinguishable from H setacea by the much wider leaves, .4" [1 cm] versus .08 to .12" [.2 to .3 mm] wide. Moreover the posterior petal lobe of H schomburgkii is .2 to .24 x .06" [5 to 6 x 1.5 mm] and in H setacea it is .12 to .2 x .12" 3 to 5 x 3 mm]. H schomburgkii is also similar to H dusenii in floral characters but the former has a prominently shorter spur, .52" versus .96" [1.3 versus 2.4 cm] long and shorter lip lateral lobes .4 to .56" versus .56 to .6" [1.0 to 1.4 versus 1.4 to 1.5 cm]. This species can also be confused with H amambayensis but easily separable by the larger plant, the long subdensely many flowered inflorescence versus 2.4 to 3.2" [6 to 8 cm] long, laxly few flowered inflorescnece and much longer leaves and theprominently clawed whereas in H amambayensis it is almmost sessile." Szlachetko & Kolanowska 2017
Synonyms Rhinorchis schomburgkii (Lindl.) Szlach. 2012
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ;
* London J. Bot. 2: 673 Lindley 1843
Engl Bot. Jahrb 16 124: Kraenzlin 1892
Flora Brasilense Vol 3 Part 4: 76 Cogniaux 1893
Flora Brasilica Vol XII I Hoehne 1940 drawing good;
Venezuelan Orchids Illustrated Vol 3 Dumnstyerville & Garay 1965 drawing fide;
Flora de Venezuela Vol 15 Orchidaceaea Part 1 Foldats 1969 drawing fide;
Orchids of Venezuela, An Illustrated Field Guide Vol 2 Dunsterville & Garay 1979 drawing fide;
Orchids of Venezuela [An illustrated field guide] Vol. 2 Ramiro and Carnevali 2000 drawing fide;
Orquideas Nativas del Tachira Cesar Fernandez 2003 photo fide;
Flora of the Venezuelan Guayana Vol 7 Steyermark, Berry, Yatskievych and Holst 2003;
Richardiana 13: 77 Szlach 2012 as Rhinorchis schomburgkii
Materials to the Orchid Flora of Colombia Vol 1: 202 Szlachetko & Kolanowska 2017 as Rhinorchis schomburgkii drawing fide
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