Habenaria speciosa Poepp. & Endl. 1836 SECTION Leptoceras
Photo by © Jorge Munera
Drawing by © Roberto Vasquez
Common Name The Outstanding Habenaria
Flower Size
Found in Colombia, Venezuela, Peru and Bolivia in wet montane forests along roadbanks at elevations around 350 to 1180 meters as a medium to large sized, hot to cool growing terrestrial with ovoid tubers giving rise to an erect stem enveloped by striate, black spotted sheathing bases carrying smaller towards the base and apex, larger in the middle, scarious margins, glaucous, ovate-lanceolate to broadly lanceolate, acuminate leaves that blooms in the spring on an erect, apical, 7" [17.5 cm] long, racemose, rather densely many flowered inflorescence with leafy, acute, shorter than the pedicellate ovary floral bracts.
Similar to Habenaria monorrhiza [Sw] Rchb.f 1885 but differs in plant size with H speciosa being bigger than 24" [60 cm]. Can also be misidentified as H quinqueseta but distinguished by a much shorter spur [2 to 4.3 cm] long versus 1.6 to 7.2" [4 to 18 cm] and shorter anterior petal lobe which is .48" versus .52 to 1" in H quinqueseta." Szlachetko & Kolanowska 2017
Synonyms
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ;
* Nov. Gen. Sp. Pl. 1: 44 Poepp & Endl. 1836
Orchids of Venezuela, An Illustrated Field Guide Vol 2 Dunsterville & Garay 1979 as H speciosa drawing fide;
Icones Planetarum Tropicarum Series II plate 0236 Dodson & Vasquez 1989 drawing fide;
Native Colombian Orchids Vol 2 COS 1991 photo fide;
Materials to the Orchid Flora of Colombia Vol 1: 145 Szlachetko & Kolanowska 2017 drawing/photo fide;
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