Brachycorythis tanganyikensis Summerh. 1962
TYPE Drawing by by © MG & Summerhayes and The JSTOR Website
TYPE Collection Sheet by © Summerhayes and Kew's Plants of the World Website
LATE 
EARLY 
Common Name The Tanzanian Brachycorythis
Flower Size
Found in the Nguru mountains of Tanzania in upland rain foreasts at elevations around 1260 meters as a miniature to small sized, cool growing terrestrial that is entiorely glabrous, except for the roots, with 1 to 3, ellipsoid to cylindrical-ellipsoid tubers giving rise to solitary or paired, erect, often slightly flexuous, leafy throughout stem carrying 5 to 7, the lower 2 to 3 reduced to sheaths, the upper more or less patent, broadly lanceolate to elliptic-lanceolate, acute, papery when dried, multinerved, rib prominent beneath, shortly petiolate base leaves that blooms in the late summer and early fall on an erect, terminal, 1.2 to2.8" [3 to 7 cm] long, rachis often slightly bent, slender, loosely 2 to 7 flowered inflorescence with foliaceous, lanceolate, acute, longer than the flower floral bracts and carrying open, green and white with purplish spotted flowers
"This species is clearly allied to the West African B. macrantha and to several Indian species. It resembles most clearly B. iantha, from which it differs in the leaves that are more open, larger and thinner, the tepals are proportionately wider and more obtuse, the labellum has a half-apical epichilium trilobate with lateral lobes much longer than the intermediate lobe, the anthers loculi are longer and the intermediate lobe of the rosette is easily distinguished. It is clearly a forest species as shown by the relatively large and thin textured leaves. The foliage leaves are borne on the upper part of the stem, the lower half being covered by the lower sheathing leaves. The shape of the labellum epichile, with its short tooth-like middle lobe and much larger incurving lateral lobes, is reminiscent of species such as B pleistophylla and B. kalbreyeri ion ehich the floral structure otherwise is very different. B. tanganyikensis however resembles the latter species in vegetative characters. A striking feature of the present species is provided by the anther loculi which are each drawn out into a tapering lower part. Ther are no properly defined canals but the caudicles of the pollina are longer that in other species of Brachycorythis." Summerhayes 1962
Synonyms Phyllomphax tanganyikensis (Summerh.) Szlach. 2006
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ;
* Kew Bull. 16: 257 Summerhayes 1962
Richardiana 6: 78 Szlach 2006 as Phyllomphax tanganyikensis
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