Dichaea benzingii Dodson 1993 TYPE Drawing by © Dodson and The Epidendra Webpage

Common Name Benzing's Dichaea [American Botanist current]

Flower Size .32" [8 mm]

Found in Esmeraldas Ecuador at elevations of 850 to 1100 meters as a miniature to small sized, warm to cool growing epiphyte with an erect to recumbent, simple to branched, stem enveloped almost completely by imbricating leaf bases carrying distichous, dense, horiazontally spreading, arcuate-recurved medially, reddish green, linear-ligulate, acute leaves that blooms in the spring on an axillary, suberect,filiform to .4" [1 cm] long, shorter than the leaves, single flowered inflorescence carrying campanulate, wine red flowers.

This species can be distinguished from others by the narrow falcate, deciduous leaves, the bald ovary, the lip with a callus extending across the base of the blade and the lack of an infrastigmatic ligule, and the wine-red flowers.

Synonyms

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; *Orquideologia 19: 99 Dodson 1993 drawing fide; Native Ecuadorian Orchids Vol 1 1993 Dodson drawing fide; Flora of Ecuador No 87 225[3] Orchidaceae Dodson & Luer 2010

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