Habenaria jamaicensis Fawc. & Rendle 1909

Photo by © Ken Morgan

Comparison drawing with H distans

TYPE Drawing by © Fawc. & Rendle 1909

Common Name The Jamaican Habenaria

Flower Size .44" [1.1 cm]

Found in Jamacia as a small sized, cool growing terrestrial with an erect, basally leafy stem carrying shiny pale green, elliptic-lanceolate, soft, acute, basally clasping leaves that blooms in the winter and spring on a termnal, erect, 6" [15 cm] long, laxly many flowered inflorescence with membraneous, ovate-lanceolate, acuminate, often longer than the flowers floral bracts.

CAUTION Kew puts this species as a synonym of H distans but as can be seen in the comparison drawing thay are very different in the petals and lip. Also there are more flowers with a thicker spur and the floral bracts are much longer and often exceed the flowers in length. So I have left them separate pending further investigation.

Synonyms

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; Flora of Jamaica Fawcett & Rendle 1910 as H distans var jamaicensis drawing fide; Studies in the Family Orchidaceae Vol 4 Ames 1910 drawing fide; Orchids of Guatemala Ames & Correl 1952 as H distans var jamaicensis; Orchids of Guatemala and Beliz Ames & Correll 1985 as H distans var Jamaicensis; Orchids of Jamaica Glouden & Tobisch 1995 photo fide; Orchidaceae Antillanae Nir 2000 drawing fide

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