Rhyncholaelia digbyana [Lindley]Schlechter 1918
Photo by Jay Pfahl
Photo by Allen Black
Photo by Weyman Bussey
to 
Common Name Digby's Beaked Laelia [English Orchid Enthusiast 1800's]
Flower Size to 7" [17 cm]
A hot to warm growing, medium to large sized, epiphytic plant from Yucatan, Campeche and Quintana Roo states of Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras and Costa Rica at elevations of 10 to 1000 meters with 6" [15 cm], elongate, compressed, closely spaced psuedobulbs with a single axillary , elliptic, erect, stiff, fleshy, 8" [20 cm] leaf. The entire plant is glaucous, and the terminal, erect, 3" [7.5 cm] long, inflorescence subtended by a large sheath, bears a single large, lemon to lily of the Valley scented, flower that appears in the summer.
This species does best mounted on wood or tree fern, given plenty of bright light and ample water while growing and a lessening after the bulbs have matured.
Synonyms Bletia digbiyana [Lindley]Rchb.f 1861; *Brassavola digbyana Lindley 1846; Brassavola digbyana f. fimbripetala (Ames) O.Gruss & M.Wolff 2007; Brassavola digbyana var fimbripetala [Ames] H.G. Jones 1962; Cattleya digbyana (Lindl.) Gentil 1907; Laelia digbyana [Lindley]Benth. 1880; Laelia digbyana var fimbripetala Ames 1932; Rhyncholaelia digbyana f. fimbripetala [Ames] Hawkes 1964
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list ; IPNI ; Lankester's Epidendra Website CR ; Edwards's Bot. Reg. 32: t. 53. 1846 as Brassavola digbyana; Xenia Orchidaceae vol 2 Rchb.f 1862 as Bletia digbyana; Die Orchideen Schlechter 1915 as Brassavola digbyana; Atlas des Orchidees Cultivees Constantin 1920 as Laelia digbyana drawing fide; AOS Bulletin Vol 27 No 9 1958 as Brassavola digbyana drawing ok; AOS Bulletin Vol 28 No 5 1959 as Brassavola digbyana drawing fide; AOS Bulletin Vol 28 No 8 1959 as Brassavola digbyana photo fide; Orchid Digest Vol 23 #5 1959 as Brassavola digbyana photo fide; Orchid Digest Vol 24 #8 1960 photo fide; AOS Bulletin Vol 33 No 9 1964 as Brassalvola digbyana photo FIDE; Encyclopedia of Cultivated Orchids Hawkes 1965; AOS Bulletin Vol 38 #11 1969 photo fide; AOS Bulletin Vol 3 1970 as Laelia digbyana var fimbripetala drawing fide; Die Orchideen 3 Auflage Bd 1 Sonderabdruck aus Schlechter Lieferung 10 576 - 632 Brieger, Maatsch and Senghas 1977 photo fide; AOS Bulletin Vol 48 No 4 1979 photo fide; AOS Bulletin vol 53 no 10 1984 photo fide; AOS Bulletin Vol55 No 2 1986 photo fide; AOS Bulletin Vol 56 No 4 1987 photo fide; AOS Bulletin Vol 57 No 1 1988 drawing fide; The Manual Of Cultivated Orchid Species Bechtel, Cribb & Launert 1992 photo fide; Orchid Digest Vol 58 #2 1994; AOS Bulletin Vol 64 No 1 1995 photo fide; AOS Bulletin Vol 66 No 3 1997 as Brassavola digbyana photo fide; Cattleyas and Their Relatives Vol 5 Withner 1998; Guatemala Y Sus Orquideas Behar & Tinschert 1998 photo fide; AOS Bulletin Vol 68 No 5 1999 photo fide; Orchid Digerst Vol 64 #2 2000 photo fide; AOS Bulletin Vol 69 No 4 2000 photo fide; Rudolf Schlechter Die Orchideen Band 1C lieferung 42 - 43 pg 2626 - 2762 Brieger 2001; Harvard Pap. Bot. 5 #2: Carnevali etal. 2001; Australian Orchid Review Vol 68 No 1 2003 photo; AOS Bulletin Vol 72 No 11 2003 photo fide; AOS Bulletin Vol 74 No 2 2005 photo fide; AOS Bulletin Vol 74 No 9 2005 photo fide; The World's Most Beautiful Orchids Allikas & Nash 2005 photo fide; AOS Bulletin Vol 75 No 1 2006 photo fide; AOS Bulletin Vol 75 # 3 2006 drawing fide; AOS Bulletin Vol 75 No 8 2006 photo fide; Orchid Digest Vol 70 #3 2006 drawing fide; AOS Bulletin Vol 76 No 3 2007 photo fide; AOS Bulletin Vol 77 #7 2008 photo fide; Icones Orchidacearum fascile 10 plate 1074 Hagsater & Soto 2008 drawing fide; Orchid Digest Vol 73 #1 2009 drawing fide; AOS Bulletin vol 78 No 5 2009 photo fide; Orchid Digest Vol 74 #3 2010 photo fide; AOS Bulletin Vol 80 #3 2011 photo fide; AOS Bulletin Vol 80 #7 2011 photo fide; Algunas Orquideas De Mexico Tomo 1 Suarez 2012 photo fide; AOS Bulletin Vol 83 #4 2014 photo fide; Orchid Digest Vol 80 #2 2016; AOS Bulletin Vol 85 #3 2016 as Brassovola digbyana drawing fide; AOS Bulletin Vol 85 #4 2016 photo fide; AOS Bulletin Vol 85 #6 2016 photo fide; AOS Bulletin Vol 86 #3 2017 photo fide; Orchid Genera and Species in Guatemala Archila, Szlachchetko, Chiron, Lipinska, Mystkowska and Bertolini 2018 photo fide; AOS Bulletin Vol 88 #2 2019 photo fide; AOS Bulletin Vol 88 #5 2019 photo fide; AOS Bulletin Vol 88 #9 2019 photo fide;
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