Brachycorythis kalbreyeri Rchb. f. 1878
Plant and Flowers in situ Photo by © W. Bachmann and The Swiss Orchid Foundation at the Jany Renz Herbaria Website
Lip Detail Photo by Carl Withner
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EARLY
Common Name Kalbreyer's Brachycorythis [German Orchid collector, central Africa and South America 1800's]
Flower Size Up to 2" [5 cm]
A small to medium sized, cool to cold growing epiphyte or lithophyte from Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Cameroon, Congo, Zaire, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Zambia in rainforests and riverine forests, often on fallen mossy logs at elevations of 1800 to 2350 meters with subterranean tubers giving rise to a pubescent to glabrous stem carrying up to 15 lanceolate, acute, thin leaves that blooms in the spring on a racemose, 6 3/4" [17 cm] long, cylindrical inflorescence with laxly several to many [22], spicily fragrant flowers.
This species requires deep shade, high humidity, cold to warm conditions and a lessening of water and fertilizer after flowering as the leaves begin to fall as well as potted in a light, free-draining mix.
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; Otia Botanica Hamburgensia Rchb.f 1878; AOS Bulletin Vol 32 # 10 1963; Die Orchideen Schlechter 1915; AOS Bulletin Vol 37 No 10 1968 photo fide; Flora or Tropical East Africa Part 1 Summerhayes 1968; Orchids of East Africa Piers 1968 photos fide; AOS Bulletin Vol 39 #8 1970 photo fide; Die Orchideen 3 Auflage Bd 1 Sonderabdruck aus Schlechter Lieferung 4 193 to 256 Brieger, Maatsch and Senghas 1973; The Orchids of South Central Africa Williamson 1977 drawing fide; Flore D'Afrique Centrale [Zaire- Rwands - Burundi] Orhidaceae Premeir parte Geerink 1984 drawing fide; Flora Zambesiaca Vol 11 Part 1 Pope 1995; African Orchids in the wild and Cultivation La Croix 1997 drawing; Manual of Orchids Stewart 1995; Orchids of Kenya Stewart 1996 photo fide;
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