Microcoelia hirschbergii Summerh. 1943

Plant and Flowers Photos by © Lourens Grobler

Common Name Hirschberg's Microcoelia [German plant collector 1900's]

Flower Size .3" [8 mm]

Found in Zaire and Zambia in riverine forests and woodlands bordering swampy grounds at elevations of 750 to 1500 meters as a small sized, warm to cool growing epiphyte on twigs and branches often forming large colonies with masses of grey, sometimes flattened roots often forming a conical mass that blooms in the spring on up to 8, simultaneous, .6 to 1.4" [1.5 to 3.5 cm] long, straight, terete usually dense, to 15 flowered inflorescence with sheathing bracts only towards the base, all the rest ovate, more or less acuminate, single nerved and carrying all the scentless flowers crowded towards the apex.

Synonyms

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; The Orchids of South Central Africa Williamson 1977 drawing/photo ok; A Monograph of the Genus Microcoelia [Orchidaceae] Jonsson 1981 drawing/photo; Rudolph Schlechter Die Orchideen Band 1B lieferung 16/17/18 945-1128 Brieger 1985; Flora Zambesiaca Vol 11 OrchidaceaePart 2 Pope 1998; Angraecoid Orchids Stewart, Hermans and Campbell 2006

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------