Tainia latifolia (Lindl.) Rchb.f. 1857
Plant Photos courtesy of Guy Van der Kinderen.©
Common Name or Meaning The Broad Leafed Tainia
Flower Size 1.6" [4 cm]
Text by Guy Van der Kinderen
Found in Bangladesh, Assam, Sikkim, Eastern Himalayas, Thailand, Myanamar, Java, Sumatra, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, China and Taiwan in tropical valleys and forests at elevations around 500 to 1600 meters as a medium sied, hot to cool growing epiphyte. The stout, creeping rhizome produces oblique and narrowly tapering, up to 10 cm long pseudobulbs, enveloped by membranous sheaths. The leaves are leathery, plicated, up to 30 cm long and 12 cm broad, and with a short petiole. Inflorescences develop at the base of the pseudobulbs and may reach about 1 m. Flowers laxly and irregularly implanted, some alone, others in groups along the rachis, and pointing in almost all directions. Sepals and petals purplish-brown, linear obtuse; lip yellow, fan-shaped with recurved side-lobes, and three longitudinal keels. This plant prefers intermediate temperatures, moderate shading, high humidity and good air movement during the growing season. Keep cool and dryer during winter. Cultivate in a mixture containing coarse peat, some humus and a lot of gritty material
Synonyms *Ania latifolia Lindl. 1831; Mitopetalum latifolium (Lindl.) Blume 1856; Tainia latifolia subsp elongata [J.J.Sm.] H Turner 1992
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; The Orchids of Burma Grant 1895/95; Orchids of Sumatra Comber 2002; Orchids of Bhutan Pearce & Cribb 2007
