Phreatia matthewsii Rchb.f. 1878 SECTION Phreatia
Photos by © Rudolf Jenny and The Swiss Orchid Foundation at the Jany Renz Herbaria Website
Drawing by Schlechter and The Swiss Orchid Foundation at the Jany Renz Herbaria Website
Common Name or Meaning Matthew's Phreatia [English Orchid Collector 1800's]
Flower Size tiny
Found in the Bismark Archipelago, the Solomon Islands, New Caledonia, Fiji, Vanuatu, Wallis and Futuna, Tonga, Samoa and Tahiti in coastal and montane forests at elevations of sea level to 1100 meters as a mini-miniature sized, hot to cool growing epiphyte with short clustered stems carrying 4 to 5, held in a fan, linear, obtuse, slightly fleshy, sheathing base leaves that blooms on a lateral, equal to or shorter than the leaves, 1 to 3.2" [2.5 to 8 cm] long, peduncle .4 to 1.2" [1 to 3 cm] long, many flowered inflorescence
CAUTION This species is often confused with the epiteth Oberonia cavaleriei. This occurred when Lindley mistakenly put Oberonia myosurus [describing O cavaleriei] as a synonym of Epidendrum myosurus, another species which is now known as Phreatia matthewsii. That species is not a Phreatia and the name of Oberonia cavalierei supplanted Oberonia myosurus as it was misapplied. If you have an orchid with the name Phreatia matthewsii or the name Oberonia myosurus and it has small orange flowers with a very fimbriate lip then please go to Oberonia cavaleriei as it will be the correct name for your orchid.
Synonyms Dendrobium myosurus (G.Forst.) Sw. 1799; Epidendrum myosurus G.Forst. 1786; Eria matthewsii (Rchb.f.) Drake 1892; Eria myosurus (G.Forst.) Rchb.f. 1868; Iridorkis myosurus (G.Forst.) Kuntze 1891; Oberonia myosurus (G.Forst.) Lindl. 1830; Octarrhena myosurus (G.Forst.) P. F Hunt 1970; Phreatia inversa Schltr. 1905; Phreatia myosurus (G.Forst.) Ames 1908; Phreatia neocaledonica Schltr. 1906; Phreatia reineckei Schltr. 1911; Phreatia upoluensis Schltr. 1907; Phreatia yunckeri L.O.Williams 1943; Pinalia matthewsii (Rchb.f.) Kuntze 1891
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; Studies in the Family Orchidaceae Fascile 2 Ames 1908 as P myosurus ; Orchidaceae of German New Guinea Schlechter 1913 as P inversa drawing fide; The Orchids of Thailand Seidenfaden & Smitinand 1959 as O myosurus; Flore de la Nouvelle-Caledonie et Dependences Vol 8 Orchidaceae Halle 1977 as P neocaledoniaca drawing fide; Indian Orchids, A Guide to Identification and Culture Vol 2 Pradhan 1979 as Oberonia myosurus Drawing fide; Orchids of Vanuatu Lewis & Cribb 1989; Orchids of the Solomon Islands and Bougainville Lewis & Cribb 1991 drawing fide; Orchids of Kumaun Himalayas Pangtey, Samant and Rawat 1991 as O myosurus not = O cavaleriei; Orchids of Samoa Cribb & Whistler 1996 as Phreatia myosurus drawing/photo fide; A field Guide to the Wild Orchids of Thailand Vaddhanaphuti 2005 as Oberonia myosurus not = O cavaleriei; Orchids of India A Glimpse Misra 2007 as Oberonia myosurus not = O cavaleriei; Orchid Digest Vol 77 #3 2013 photo fide; LANKESTERIANA 15(1): 7—50. Jeewan Singh Jalal & J. Jayanthi 2015
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