Malaxis parthoni C.Morren 1839 Photo by © Ricardo Luis Penz and his Orchid Website

Common Name Parthon's Malaxis

Flower Size .2" [5 mm]

Found from Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Brazil and Argentina at elevations of 750 to 2900 meters as a medium sized, warm to cold growing terrestrial with a stout, bulbous thickening at base stem enveloped below by several, loose, tubular, imbricating sheaths with the uppermost being larger and leaf bearing and carrying 2, near the middle of the stem, subopposite, ovate to oval to orbicular-ovate, abruptly acute to acuminate, spreading, apparently sessile to subsessile leaves but with an elongate petiolate base that sheath the stem that blooms in the spring on a terminal, to 15.2" [38 cm] long, abbreviated raceme, subumbellate, densely many flowered inflorescence.

Often given as a synonym of M histonantha but this is the Central American species and differs from the type from Brazil by having a much broader and differently shaped lip and different sepals. Most likely the range of M parthoni is just in South America. [McVaugh]

Synonyms Malaxis argentinensis L.O.Williams 1939; Malaxis disepala (Rchb.f.) Kuntze 1891; Microstylis disepala Rchb.f. 1854; Microstylis ovatilabia Schltr. 1920; Microstylis parthoni (C.Morren) Rchb.f. 1861

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; Orchids of Guatemala, Ames & Correll 1952; Orchids of Peru Vol 3 Schweinfurth 1959; Flora de Venezuela Vol 11 Parte 1 Foldats 1969 as M disepala; Flora de Venezuela Vol 11 Parte 1 Foldats 1969; Venezuelan Orchids Vol 6 Dunsterville & Garay 1976 as M disepala; AOS Bulletin Vol 48 No 5 1979; AOS Bulletin Vol 49 No 7 1980 drawing; Flora Nova-Galiciana Vol 16 McVaugh 1985 as M histonantha; Native Orchids of Ecuador Vol 3 Dodson 2002;

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