Maxillaria sigmoidea (C.Schweinf.) Ames & Correll 1943 Photo by © John T Atwood

Drawing Drawing by © Hamer

EARLY

Common Name The S Shaped Lip Maxillaria

Flower Size .8" [2 cm]

Found in Costa Rica and Panama in humid forests at elevations around 1200 meters as a medium to just large sized, cool growing epiphyte with an ascending, stem-like rhizome with 4 to 8" [10 to 20 cm] between each elliptic, compressed, rugose pseudobulb carrying a single, apical, lanceolate, acuminate, membraneous, carinate, conduplicate below into the petiolate base leaf that blooms in the spring on an axillary, peduncle to .4" [1 cm] long, enveloped by sheaths, single flowered inflorescence with lightly campanulate flowers with wine red tepals, the mid lobe of the lip paler, the basal half of the lip blotched with carmine, the front of the column is striped with red and the anther and pollina are white.

Similar to M schelchteriana and M vaginalis

Synonyms Camaridium sigmoideum (C.Schweinf.) M.A.Blanco 2007; Ornithidium sigmoideum C.Schweinf. 1937; Viracocha sigmoidea (C.Schweinf.) Szlach. & Sitko 2012

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; AOS Bulletin Vol 37 No 4 1968 photo fide; Icones Plantarum Tropicarum Plate 1234 Hamer 1985 drawing fide; AOS Bulletin Vol 63 # 4 1994 photo fide; Fieldiana Biology, Flora Costa Ricensis Family # 39 Orchidaceae, subtribes Maxillariinae and Oncidiinae Atwood & Mora 1999 drawing fide; Manual de Plantas de Costa Rica Vol 3 Hammel, Grayum, Herrera and Zamora 2003; AOS Bulletin Vol 74 No 10 2005 photo fide; Maxillaria An Unfinished Monograph Vol 2 Christenson 2013; Vanishing Beauty, Native Costa Rican Orchids Vol 2 Lacaena to Pteroglossa Pupulin 2020 as Camaridium sigmoideum photo fide

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