Ornithocephalus inflexus Lindl. 1840

Photo by Weyman Bussey

Flower Closeup

Photos by © Eric Hunt

Another Closeup

Part shadeHot to Cool Summer

Common Name The Bent Ornithocephalus

Flower Size 3/16" [5 mm]

Found in Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, Costa Rica and Panama as a miniature, fan shaped, hot to cool growing, twig epiphyte growing on old citrus and shrubs in montane rain forests at altitudes of 15 to 1800 meters and blooms in the summer and fall on an erect, axillary, to 3" [7.5 cm] long, racemose inflorescence with several flowers that is just longer than the leaves.

This species is best mounted on cork, tree fern or wood, given shady, humid conditions with even, year round waterings.

SynonymsOrnithocephalus elephas Rchb. f. 1863; Ornithocephalus mexicanus A. Rich. & Galeotti 1845; Ornithocephalus pottsiae S. Watson 1887; Ornithocephalus salvinii Rchb.f. ex Hemsl. 1884; Ornithocephalus tonduzii Schltr. 1918

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; Repert. Sp. Nov. Regni. Veg. Beih. 19: 153. Costa Rica Schlechter 1923 as O tonduzii; The Orchids of Panama L.O. Williams & P Allen 1946; Orchid Digest Vol 23 #3 1959 photo fide; Encyclopedia of Cultivated Orchids Hawkes 1965; Flora Novo-Galaciana Vol 16 McVaugh 1985; An Introdution to the Orchids of Mexico Wiard 1987 photo fide; Orchids Travel By Air A Pictoral Safari Mulder, Mulder-Roelfsema and Schuiteman 1990 photo not see O sp; Phylogeny and Classification of the Orchid Family Dressler 1993 photo ok; AOS Bulletin Vol 67 No 2 1998 photo good; Guatemala Y Sus Orquideas Behar & Tinschert 1998 photo fide; Harvard Pap. Bot. 5 #2: Carnevali etal. 2001; Manual de Plantas de Costa Rica Vol 3 Hammel, Grayum, Herrera and Zamora 2003; AOS Bulletin Vol 73 No 12 2004 photo good; AOS Bulletin Vol 74 No 3 2005 photo fide; Mille et Une Mini Orchideees Roguenant 2009 photo ok; Guia de Orquideas de Chiapas Carlos Rommel Beutelspacher Baigts 2013 photo good; AOS Bulletin Vol 85 #7 2016 photo fide; AOS Bulletin Vol 85 #11 2016 photo fide; AOS Bulletin Vol 88 #3 2019 photo fide; Orchid Digest Vol 84 #1 2020 photo fide; Orchid Genera and Species in Guatemala Archila, Szlachchetko, Chiron, Lipinska, Mystkowska and Bertolini 2018;

----------------------Vanishing Beauty, Native Costa Rican Orchids Vol 2 Lacaena to Pteroglossa Pupulin 2020 photo fide ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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