SITE LAST UPDATED 12/07/97
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Catasetum page SUBFAMILY Epidendroideae, TRIBE Cymbidieae, SUBTRIBE Catasetinae. There are 70 species spread from Mexico to Argentina and the West Indies of this deciduous fleshy pseudobulb with eight to twelve leaves. The inflorescence starts at the base of the pseudobulbs and may be erect or pendulous with male or female flowers . The male flowers are characterized with the ability to eject their pollina up to eight feet from the plant. A good photo of the differences between the two sex's flowers can be seen here. PLEASE NO PLANTS UNDER THE AGE OF 21! as these photos are explicit. The female flower can be seen with the male pollina in it's stigmatic cavity[see#1 in photo]. The male flower in the upper right of the picture shows that it has ejected it's pollina [see#2 in photo], first in that it is missing it's pollinarium and second by the limp colorless look of the flower in general as compared to the flower below [see #3 in photo]

The next photo that can be seen here, shows a dried female flower [See #2 in photo] 1 day after a sucsessful encounter with a male pollina, next to a non impregnated flower [see#3 in photo]. Note the swollen ovary [#1 in the photo] which is actually the stem of the flower. Here is where the seed will develop and in 3-4 months the seed will be mature and the capsule will dry and break open spilling the seed to the wind.

Catasetum Species List

    The species list below was composed with information from the following sources.

    The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Orchids by Alec Pridgeon. Published by the Timber Press

    The Manual Of Cultivated Orchid Species By Bechtel, Cribb and Launert, Published by The MIT Press

    Native Colombian Orchids Volumes 1-6 Published by Editorial Colina By the Colombian Orchid Society

    A Guide to the Orchids Of the World By Hodgson, Paine, and Anderson Published by Angus

    An Introduction to the Orchids Of Mexico By Andrew Wiard Published by Comstock Cornell

    Orchids Of Brazil By Jim & Barbara McQueen Published by Timber Press

    Field Guide to the Orchids of Costa Rica And Panama By Robert L Dressler Published by Comstock Cornell

    Orchids of Guatemala and Belize By Oakes Ames And Donovan Correl Published by Dover

    Species names that are synonyms of current species are denoted with a ~.

    ~baraquinianum Lem. - See C. saccatum

  1. barbatum [Lindl.]Lindl
  2. -Guyana, Brazil and Peru -Alt 0-1000m - Flowers May- Oct. - Intermediate to warm grower -
  3. bicolor Klotzsch
  4. -Panama, Colombia and Venezuela - Alt 0-1800m - hot to warm grower - Flowers Feb-Oct.
  5. blepharochilum Schltr.
  6. - Colombia

    ~bungerothii N.E.Br. - See C. pileatum

  7. callosum Lindl.
  8. - Colombia - 0-1000m - Hot grower
  9. caucanum Schltr.
  10. - Colombia
  11. cernuum [Lindl.]Rchb.f.
  12. -Southern Brazil - Flowers in Apr-July

    ~ciliatum Barb.Rodr. - See C. discolor

    ~claesianum Cogn. - See C. discolor

    ~claveringii Lindl. ex Van Jeel - See C. macrocarpum

    ~cogniauxii Linden - See C. fimbriatum

  13. collare Cogn.
  14. -Colombia - Alt 0-1000m - Hot grower

    ~crinitum Linden - See C. barbatum

    ~cruciatum Schltr. - See C. saccatum

  15. discolor [Lindl.]Lindl.
  16. -Venezuela, Guyana, Surinam, Brazil and Colombia - Alt 0-1000m - Hot grower - Flowers in Feb.- July Epiphytic in Palm trees and terrestrial in sandy soil- Open forest
  17. expansum Rchb.f.
  18. - NE Ecuador -Flowers in May - Dec. -Intermediate to warm grower
  19. fimbriatum [C.Morr.]Lindl.
  20. -Tropical South America - Alt 0-800m - Flowers in spring-summer - epiphyte - Warm grower - moderate light

    ~floribundum Hkr. - See C. macrocarpum

    ~gardneri Schltr. - See C. discolor

    ~garnettianum Rolfe - See C. barbatum

  21. globiflorum Hooker
  22. Photo courtesy ofGreg and Kerri Steenbeeke and their Orkology Kreations Website

    ~gnomus Hort. - See C. gnomus Linden&Rchb.f.

  23. gnomus Linden & Rchb.f.
  24. - Brazil [Amazonas state]- Aly 0-300m - FLowers in summer - epiphyte - warm grower likes steady temperatures

    ~heteranthum Barb.Rodr. - See C. gnomus

    ~histrio Klotsch ex Rchb.f. - See C. saccatum

    ~incurvum Klotsch - See C. saccatum

  25. intergerimum Hooker
  26. - Closely related to C. maculatum -Mexico,Guatemala, Belize and Nicaraugua- Alt 0-1820m - Flowers in Apr-Nov. -Epiphyte - Humid forests, Coffee plantations and open country
  27. lehmannii Regel
  28. - Colombia

    ~linguiferum Schltr. - See C. macrocarpum

  29. lucis Ortiz & Arango
  30. - Colombia - Alt 0-1000m - hot grower
  31. macrocarpum Kunth
  32. -Brazil, Guyana, Colombia , Venezuela and Trinidad - Alt 0-1000m - Hot grower - Flowers in July-Dec. - epiphyte

    ~macrocarpum Stein - See C. barbatum

  33. maculatum Kunth
  34. - Closely related to C. intergerimum - Panama, Costa Rica, Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela - Alt 0-1000m - Hot grower - Flowers in May-Dec. - Lowland epiphyte
  35. microglossum Rolfe
  36. - Peru - Large Epiphyte
  37. ochraceum Lindl.
  38. - Colombia - Alt 0-1800m - Hot to warm grower

    ~oerstedii Rchb.f. - See C. maculatum

    ~ornithorrhychum Porsch - see C. fimbriatum

    ~pflanzii Schltr. - see C. fimbriatum

  39. pileatum Rchb.f.
  40. - Venezuela [National flower], Colombia , Trinidad and Brazil - Alt 0-300m - Flowers in June-Nov. - Large Epiphyte - warm grower - bright light
  41. planiceps Lindl.
  42. - Colombia
  43. platyglossum Schltr.
  44. -Ecuador and Colombia - Flowers in June-Dec - Robust Epiphyte -

    ~polydacton Schltr. - See C. barbatum

    ~roseo-albido Lindl. see C. discolor

  45. roseum [Lindl]Rchb.
  46. Also Clowesia roseum -Tropical S.A. -
  47. russellianum Hook.
  48. - rarely found in Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and Panama - Alt up to 600m -Epiphyte - Trees in open mountane forest
  49. saccatum Lindl.
  50. -Peru, Colombia , Brazil and the Guyanas - Alt. 0-1700m- large variable epiphyte -Flowers in Summer -Intermediate to warm grower
  51. sanguineum Lindl.
  52. - Colombia and Venezuela - Alt 0-1000m - Hot grower - Flowers May-Oct.

    ~secundum Klotsch ex Rchb.f. - See C. saccatum

    ~sodiroi Schltr - See C. platyglossum

  53. spitzii Hoehne
  54. - Brazil - Alt. up to 800m - Flowers in June-Sept - warm grower - Bright light

    ~stupendum Cogn. - See C. saccatum

  55. tabulare Lindl.
  56. - Colombia - Alt 0-1000m - Hot grower - Flowers in May-Oct.
  57. tapiriceps Rchb.f
  58. - Colombia
  59. tenebrosum Krzl.
  60. - S.E. Ecuador and Eastern Peru - Flowers in Mar-Oct

    ~tricolor Hort.exPlanc. - see C. macrocarpum

  61. tricolor Rchb.f.
  62. - S America

    ~tridentatum Hkr.

  63. triodon Rchb.f.
  64. - Brazil
  65. trulla Lindl.
  66. - South Brazil - Flowers Apr-Oct -
  67. tuberculatum Dodson
  68. - Colombia - Alt 0-1000m - Hot grower
  69. violescens Rchb.f & Warsc.
  70. viridiflavum Hook.
  71. Guatemala, Panama and Colombia - Alt 0-1000m - Flowers in July-Dec -

    ~wredeanum Schltr. - see C. fimbriatum

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