Maxillaria nigrolabia Christenson 2011 sect. Polyphyllae Christenson 2002 Photo by © Rodrigo Escobar
Lip Comparison Drawing between M nigrolabia left and M foetida right TYPE Drawings by © Padre Pedro Ortiz V.
Common Name The Black Lipped Maxillaria
Flower Size
Found in El Choco department of Colombia at elevations around 100 meters as a miniature to small sized, hot growing epiphyte with a fan of 7, lanceolate, acuminate, long-petiolate leaves with persistent leaf bases that blooms on an axillary, slender, elongate, peduncles to 5.2" [13 cm] long, single flowered inflorescence with lanceolate, acute, much shorter than the ovary floral bract.
Similar to M foetida but M foetida differs in the lobed, obovate lip with blunt, abruptly acute apex uniformly flecked with dark purple, while M nigrolabia has a wedge shaped base tapering into a trianglar sharly acute apex and is bicolored with the apical third intensely marked with blackish purple. See the comparison drawing above.
Synonyms Inti nigrolabia (Christenson) M.A.Blanco 2013
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; Native Colombian Orchids, vol. 3:319.1991 as M sp # 3982 photo fide; *Orchid Digest Vol 75 #2 2011 Drawing fide;
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