Laelia crispata [Thunb.]Garay 1974 SUBGENUS Parviflorae SECTION Rupestres Withner 1990
Photo by © Lourens Grobler
Photo by Marius Wasbauer.
Photo by Oliver Lenhard.
Plant in situ - Morro Do Chappel, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil 500 meters
Photo by Jay Pfahl.
Common Name Cliff-dwelling Laelia
Flower Size 1.6 to 2" [4 to 5 cm]
Found in Minas Gerais state of Brazil on iron ore hills encountered under dense scrub bushes on cliff ledges at elevations of 400 to 1200 meters as a small to medium sized, "rupicolous" lithophyte, with terete, cylindrical pseudobulbs with a stout basal sheath and carrying a single, apical, erect, leathery, narrowly oblong, obtuse leaf that blooms in the late winter and early spring on an erect, subtended by a compressed sheath, 8 to 20" [20 to 50 cm] long, racemose 2 to 10 flowered inflorescence.
Well drained pots in a cool to warm environment and bright indirect light combined with a dry winter rest keep this epiphytic orchid happy.
Said to be synomonous with L flava but I have left them apart pending further review. If synomonous then L crispata would take precedence and refer to 2 different color forms yellow [flava] and purple [crispata].
Synonyms Cattleya caetensis (Pabst) Van den Berg 2010; Cattleya crispata (Thunb.) Van den Berg 2008; Cattleya lutea Guidon 1858; *Cymbidium crispatum Thunb. 1818; Hoffmannseggella caetensis (Pabst) V.P.Castro & Chiron 2002; Hoffmannseggella crispata (Thunb.) H.G.Jones 1974; Laelia caetensis Pabst 1975; Sophronitis caetensis (Pabst) Van den Berg & M.W.Chase 2000; Sophronitis crispata (Thunb.) C. Berg & M.W. Chase 2000;
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ;
Pl. Bras. 2: 18 Thunb 1818 as Cymbidium crispatum Select Orchid. Pl. 2: t. 6 R Warner 1865 as L lawrenceana; * Bradea 1: 302 Garay 1973 Hawaii Orchid J. 3(4): 15 H G Jones 1974 as Hoffmannseggella crispata
Orchidaceae Brasilienses Pabst & Dungs Band I 1975 drawing not; Bradea 2: 50 Pabst 1975 as L caetensis; Orchidaceae Brasilenses Band 2 Pabst & Dungs 1977 as L x caetensis drawing ok; Orchid Digest Vol 48 No 1 1984 photo fide; Orchid Digest Vol 48 No 1 1984 as L x caetenesis; Cattleya and Their Relatives Vol 2 Withner 1990 photo fide; The Manual Of Cultivated Orchid Species Bechtel, Cribb & Launert 1992; Kew Bull. 50: 424 Pabst ex Zappi 1995 as L gardneri; Lindleyana Vol 15 No 2 2000 as Sophronitis x caetensis; Lindleyana Vol 15 No 2 2000 as Sophronitis crispata; Richardiana 2: 24 V P Castro & Chiron 2002 as Hoffmannseggella caetensis; Richardiana 2: 22 V P Castro & Chiron 2002 as Hoffmannseggella crispata AOS Bulletin Vol 86 #12 2011 as Cattleya cripata photo fide; Neodiversity 3:6 2008 as Cattleya crispata; Neodiversity 5: 14 Van den Berg 2010 as Cattleya caetensis
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