Elleanthus ensatus (Lindl.) Rchb.f. 1863 SUBGENUS Calelyna SECTION Calelyna Szach & Dudek 2023

Photo by © Natalla Salcedo Grebecho and her Flickr Nature Photo Website

Part shade Cold LATESpring

Common Name The Sword-Shaped Elleanthus [refers to the floral bracts]

Flower Size

Found in Merida state of Venezuela, Colombia?, Ecuador and Peru at elevations around 2500 to 3000 meters as a large to giant sized, cold growing terrestrial with an erect to slightly arcuate, simple, leafy above stem carrying linear-lanceolate to elliptic-linear, rigid, coriaceous, plicate, acuminate with an acute apex leaves that blooms in the late spring on an arching, terminal, strobiliform, subglobose capitate to oblong cylindric, to 4.8" [12 cm] long, many flowered inflorescence with spreading,ovate-lanceolate, steaceous-acuminate floral bracts that are much longer than the pink to carmine flowers.

"Similar and often confused with E maculatus but differ in the lip callii. In E maculatus the corpuscules are decurrent apically onto the disc, while in E ensatus they are not. Also similar to E lupulinus which is sometimes included as a synonym of E maculatus but separated by the length/width ratio of the leaf which is 10 times in E ensatus and 5 to 7 times in E lupulinus. The form of the lip calli also differs in E ensatus they are free from each other and in E lupulinus callis are connate together at the apex forming a "V-Like" structure." Szlatchetko & Kolanowska 2023

Synonyms *Evelyna ensata Lindl. 1846

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ;

Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. Beih. 8: 37 Schlechter Ecuador 1921;

Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. Beih. 9: 45 Peru Schlechter 1921;

Flora Brasilica Vol XII II 13-43 Hoehne 1945;

Orchids of Peru Vol 1 Schweinfurth 1958;

Flora de Venezuela Volumen 15 Parte 1 Foldats 1969;

Materials to the Orchid Flora of Colombia Vol IV:249 Szlatchetko & Kolanowska 2023

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------