Cyrtorchis hamata [Rolfe]Schlechter 1914 SECTION Cyrtorchis

Photo by Jeff Aguillon

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Common Name The Hooked Cyrtorchis

Flower Size 3" [7.5 cm]

Found in Ghana, Ivory Coast, Nigeria and Gabon from high in the canopy of semi deciduous forests at elevations of 200 to 650 meters as a small sized, hot to warm growing epiphyte with a strong, erect stem carrying ligulate to linear, strap-shaped or elliptic, fleshy, unequally bilobed apically leaves and blooms in the summer on a short to 8" [to 20 cm], axillary, several [6 to 12] flowered, racemose inflorescence with nocturnally fragrant flowers.

" This species resembles C. arcuata , but may be recognised easily by the curled-up apex of the spur. The flowers are medium-sized to rather large (lateral sepals .8 to 1.4" [2 to 3.5 cm] long) while the leaves are relatively long and narrow (5.6 to 10" [13 to 25 cm] by .6 to 1" [1.5 to 2.5 cm], rarely to 1.6" [4 cm]). The beak of the anther is broader than in C. arcuata but the pollinarium is very similar to that in the latter species. C. hamata is characteristically a forest plant occurring frequently in the crowns of tall trees." Summerhayes 1960

This species is best grown in a basket or mounted on treefern and needs high humidity, hot to warm temperatures and a cooler and drier winter rest.

Synonyms Angraecum hamatum Rolfe ?;Cyrtorchis arcuata subsp. variabilis. Summerh 1960; Cyrtorchis arcuata subsp. leonensis Summerh. 1960; Cyrtorchis arcuata subsp. whytei (Rolfe) Summerh. 1960; Cyrtorchis arcuata var. variabilis (Summerh.) Geerinck 1988; *Listrostachys hamata Rolfe 1902; Listrostachys hamata Rolfe 1906

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ;

Otia Botanica Hamburgensia Rchb.f 1881 as Listrostachys sedeni;

Die Orchideen Schlechter 1915;

AOS Bulletin Vol 27 No 9 1958 as Listrochilus arcuata drawing ok;

Kew Bull. 14: 151 Summerhayes 1960

AOS Bulletin Vol 32 No 10 1963;

AOS Bulletin Vol 32 No 10 1963 as C sedenii;

Encyclopedia of Cultivated Orchids Hawkes 1965;

AOS Bulletin Vol 37 No 11 1968 photo fide;

The Orchids of South Central Africa Williamson 1977 drawing/photo fide;

AOS Bulletin Vol 49 No 11 1980 drawing;

AOS Bulletin Vol 53 No 7 1984 photo fide;

Rudolph Schlechter Die Orchideen Band 1B lieferung 16/17/18 945-1128 Brieger 1985 photo fide;

Orchids Travel By Air A Pictoral Safari Mulder, Mulder-Roelfsema and Schuiteman 1990 photo fide;

The Manual Of Cultivated Orchid Species Bechtel, Cribb & Launert 1992 photo fide;

The Orchids of Kenya Stewart & Campbell 1996 photo fide;

African Orchids in the Wild and Cultivation La Croix 1997;

Les Orchidees de Cote d'Ivorie Perez-Vera 2003 photo/drawing fide

Angraecoid Orchids Stewart, Hermans, Campbell 2006;

Field Guide to the Orchids of Northern South Africa and Swaziland McMurty, Grobler, Grobler & Burns 2008;

Orchid Digest Vol 77 #3 2013 photo fide;

Phytotaxa 267 (3) 173 Droissat & Azandi 2016 photo fide;

AOS Bulletin Vol 87 #1 2018 photo fide;

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