Oncidium lancifolium Lindl. 1845 SECTION Rostrata Photo by Fredy and his Facebook page

Drawing of O melanops Drawing by Dunsterville and Garay

Common Name The Spear Shaped Leaves Oncidium

Flower Size

Found in northwestern Venezuela, Colombia and Ecuador at elevations around 2500 meters as a cold growing, caespitose epiphyte with dull, somewhat velvety looking, light greeny brown, rather variable in shape, compressed, ancipitose, hard, lightly to sharply grooved pseudobulb enveloped by a single, fairly persistent grey sheath as long as the pseudobulb and carrying 2, apical, thin, midvein finely and sharply sulcate, carinate, dull browny green, narrowing below into a shortly conduplicate, base leaves that blooms on an axillary, arising on a new growth, peduncle slender, subterete, shortly branched, to 10" + [25 cm +] long, sheaths white nerved, thin, several to many flowered inflorescence with short, green, floral bracts.

CAUTION This species and O ornithorhynchum are quite similar and have been synonyms of each other, if this turns out to be so then O ornithorhychum takes precedence.

Synonyms Heteranthocidium rostrans (Rchb.f.) Szlach. & Kolan. 2015; Oncidium alcicorne Rchb.f. 1872; Oncidium chrysornis Rchb.f. 1880; Oncidium elephantotis Rchb.f. 1876; Oncidium gracillimum Rolfe 1898; Oncidium huebschii Rchb.f. 1885; Oncidium melanops Rchb.f. 1880; Oncidium ochthodes Rchb.f. 1871; Oncidium pluviaflorum Kraenzl. 1922; Oncidium rostrans Rchb.f. 1875; Oncidium santanderianum Kraenzl. 1922; Oncidium xanthocentron Rchb.f. 1880

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; Venezuelan Orchids Illustrated Vol 5 Dunsterville & Garay 1972 as O melanops drawing fide; Orchids of Venezuela, An illustrated Field Guide Vol 2 Dunstervile & Garay 1979 as O melanops drawing fide Rudolf Schlechter Die Orchideen Band 1C lieferung 33 - 36 2057 - 2308 Brieger 1997; Orchids of Venezuela, An illustrated Field Guide Second Edition Vol 2 Romero & Carnevali 2000 as O melanops drawing fide; Orquideologia Vol 23 #2 2004 as O alcicorne; Orquideologia Vol 23 #2 2004 as O melanops; Orquideologia Vol 23 #2 2004 as O rostrans; Orquideologia Vol. 23 No 2 2004 as Oncidium xanthocentrum; Oncidium Vol 1 Koniger 2004 drawing/photo fide

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