Laelia longipes Rchb.f 1863 SUBGENUS Parviflorae SECTION Liliputinae Withner 1990
Photos by Jay Pfahl
Photos by Cogniaux
Common Name Long-Peduncle Laelia
Flower Size 2.28" [5.7 cm]
Found in Brazil at elevations around 1300 to 2000 meters as a miniature sized, cool to cold growing, "rupicolous", lithophytic species closely related to L. crispata with narrowly oblong or conical pseudobulbs carrying a single, apical, erect, fleshy, rigid, elliptic-oblong, subacute, dark green leaf that blooms in the summer and fall in Brazil on a raceme that is much longer than the leaves [8 to 10"] and has from 2 to 4 flowers and sometimes more.
I found the one in the photographs above on top of Pico Da Carapuça - La Caraça, Minas Gerais, Brazil at an elevation of 1955 meters in full sun and was one of two of a few thousand that we saw that happened to be in bloom. I was blessed that it waited for me to scale the mountain and photograph it. It was a 4 1/2 hour climb to get to this location.
Synonyms Bletia longipes [Rchb.f]Rchb.f 1863; Bletia lucasiana Rolfe 1893; Cattleya longipes (Rchb.f.) Van den Berg 2008; Hoffmannseggella longipes (Rchb.f.) V.P.Castro & Chiron 2002; Laelia longipes var. lucasiana (Rolfe) Schltr. 1917; Laelia lucasiana Rolfe 1893; Laelia ostermeyeri Hoehne 1937; Sophronitis longipes (Rchb. f.) C. Berg & M.W. Chase 2000
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ;
*Dict. Icon. Orchid.: 442 Cogniaux & Goossens 1896
Xenia Orchid. 2: 59 Rchb.f 1863 as Bletia longipes;
Orchid Rev. 1: 265 Rolfe 1893 as L lucasiana;
Die Orchideen Schlechter 1915;
Die Orchideen Schlechter 1915 as L longipes var alba;
Orchis 11: 93 Schlechter 1917 as L longpes var lucasiana;
Atlas des Orchidees Cultivees Constantin 1920 drawing ok;
Iconografia de Orchidaceae Do Brasil Hoehne 1949 as L ostermayerii var fourneri drawing fide;
AOS Bulletin Vol 27 No 11 1958;
AOS Bulletin Vol 27 No 11 1958 as L ostermayerii;
Orchidaceae Brasilienses Band I Pabst & Dungs 1975 drawing fide;
Die Orchideen 3 Auflage Bd 1 Sonderabdruck aus Schlechter Lieferung 10 576 - 632 Brieger, Maatsch and Senghas 1977 photo fide;
Orchid Digest Vol 45 No 1 1981 as L lucasiana photo fide;
Orchid Digest Vol 47 No 6 1983 as L lucasiana photo;
Orchid Digest Vol 48 No 1 1984 photo fide;
Orchid Digest Vol 48 No 1 1984 as L lucasiana photo fide;
Cattleya and Their Relatives Vol 2 Withner 1990 photo soso;
Cattleya and Their Relatives Vol 2 Withner 1990 as L lucasiana
fide; Cattleya and Their Relatives Vol 2 Withner 1990 as L lucasiana var alba photo fide;
The Manual Of Cultivated Orchid Species Bechtel, Cribb & Launert 1992;
AOS Bulletin Vol 65 No 1 1996 as L lucasiana photo fide;
Lindleyana Vol 15 No 2 2000 as Sophronitis longipes;
Richardiana 2: 24 V P Castro & Chiron 2002 as Hoffmannseggella longipes;
Neodiversity 3:6 Van den Berg 2008 as Cattleya longipes;
Mille et Une Mini Orchideees Roguenant 2009 as Sophronitis longipes photo ok;
AOS Bulletin Vol 80 #12 2011 as Cattleya longipes photo fide;
A Compendium of Miniature Orchid Species Parsons & Gerritsen 2013 as Cattleya longipes photo fide;
AOS Bulletin Vol 85 supplement K A Roberts 2016 as Cattleya longipes var luscasiana; ;
AOS Bulletin Vol 86 # 7 2017 as Cattleya longipes photo fide;
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