Habenaria procera (Afzel. ex Sw.) Lindl. 1835 SECTION Commelynifoliae Kraenzl. 1892

Photo by Francisco Perez-Vera

Habenaria procera (Afzel. ex Sw.) Lindl var. gabonensis (Rchb. f.) Geerinck 1983

Photo by Guy Ramette Vovan and his Gabon Orchids Website

and

Common Name The Slim Gabonese Habenaria

Flower Size 1" [2.5 cm]

Found in Gabon, Cameroon, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Nigeria, Principe, Sierra Leone and Zaire at elevations up to 1250 meters as a large sized, hot to cool growing epiphyte among ferns and mosses on tree trunks and crotches or as a terrestrial in humus or grassy places among rocks with elongate, woolly tubers with a leafy stem carrying narrowly oblanceolate, light glossy green, deciduous leaves that blooms on an erect, terminal, 6" [15 cm] long, densely several [12] flowered inflorescence occuring in the spring and summer.

This species should be potted in a fine mix with moderate shade, cool to warm temperatures, and a dry and cooler winter rest after leaf fall in the autumn.

The photo above is of the variety gabonensis and not of the type

Synonyms Habenaria gabonensis Rchb. f. 1855; Habenaria gabonensis var. psiloceras (Welw. ex Rchb.f.) Summerh. 1942; Habenaria milnei Rchb.f. 1881; Habenaria ochyrae Szlach. & Olszewski 1998; Habenaria procera var. gabonensis (Rchb.f.) Geerinck 1983; Habenaria psiloceras Welw. ex Rchb.f. 1867; Habenaria staudtiana Kraenzl. & Schltr. 1897; Habenaria staudtii Rolfe 1898 ; *Orchis procera Afzel. ex Sw. 1805

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; AOS Bulletin Vol 32 # 10 1963; Flora of Tropical East Africa Part 1 Summerhayes 1968; The Orchids of South Central Africa Williamson 1977 as H gabonensis var psiloceras drawing ok; Flore D'Afrique Centrale [Zaire- Rwands - Burundi] Orhidaceae Premeir parte Geerink 1984; Flore D'Afrique Centrale [Zaire- Rwands - Burundi] Orhidaceae Premeir parte Geerink 1984 as H procera var gabonensis; Orchids of the Central African Republic A Provisional Checklist Cribb & Fay 1986; Flora Zambesiaca Vol 11 Part 1 Pope 1995 as H gabonensis; Manual Of Orchids Stewart 1995; African Orchids in the Wild and Cultivation La Croix 1997 drawing/photo fide; African Orchids in the Wild and Cultivation La Croix 1997 as H procera var gabonensis; Les Orchidees de Cote d'Ivorie Perez-Vera 2003 drawing fide; Les Orchidees de Cote d'Ivorie Perez-Vera 2003 as H procera var gabonense drawing fide; Flore du Gabon Vol 36 Szlachetko etal 2004 drawing fide; Orchidaceae of West Central Africa Vol 1 Szlatchecko etal 2010 drawing fide; Orchidaceae of West Central Africa Vol 1 Szlatchecko etal 2010 as Habenaria ochyrae drawing fide; AOS Bulletin Vol 87 #1 2018 drawing fide;

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