Another flower Photo by © Jay Pfahl

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Common Name Shoemaker's Barkeria

Flower Size 3/4" [1.6 cm]

From Michoacan, Guerrero and Oaxaca states of Mexico at elevations around sea level to 620 meters along dry creek beds as a deciduous leafed, mini-miniature to medium sized, hot to warm growing epiphyte with slim, fusiform, 4 to 7 noded pseudobulbs enveloped by white, scarious, close fitting sheaths and carrying 2 to 6, ascending-erect to arcuate, distichous, lanceolate, acuminate, basally round and clasping, very fleshy, purple spotted beneath often strongly conduplicate leaves that blooms in the mid-winter on an apical, rarely racemose to often paniculate, 2 to 4 branched, laxly [3 to 40] several to many flowered inflorescence with successive opening flowers.

This species is the same in culture as most Barkeria, and needs to be mounted on a branch or twig and given ample water, fertilizer and bright light through the spring and summer and then needs a cooler dry period without fertilizer in the winter.

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; Orchid Digest Vol 44 No 2 1980 photo fide; Miniature Orchids Northen 1980; AOS Bulletin Vol 56 No 6 1987 photo; Miniature Orchids McQueen 1992; Cattleya and Their Relatives Vol 5 Withner 1998 drawing/photo fide; Genera Orchidacearum Vol 4 Epidendroideae Part 1 Pridgeon, Cribb, Chase & Rasmussen 2005 drawing fide; Orchids of Mexico, Hagsater, Soto, Salazar etal 2005; Icones Orchidacearum 10 Plate 1007 Hagsater & Soto 2008 drawing fide; AOS Bulletin Vol 86 #9 2017 photo fide;

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