Pelexia callifera (C. Schweinf.) Garay 1978 SECTION Pelexia
Photos © by Joost Riksen and his Flickr Orchid Photo Webpage
Photos © by G Chiron
Plant and flowers in situ Surinam
Photo © Werkhoven
Photos courtesy of Belize Botanic Gardens ©
Drawings by © Szlatchetko 2005
Common Name The Callus Carrying Pelexia
Flower Size .1" [.25 cm]
Found in Belize? and Chirique department of Panama, Colombia, Bolivar state of Venezuela, Fr Guiana, Surinam, Cuenca province of Ecuador and Peru in lower montane forests at elevations around 200 to 500 meters as a small sized, hot growing terrestrial with a basal rosete of about 4 to 6, ovate-lanceolate, dark green to vne red to brownish, shiny, with central cream markings, brown-lavender beneath, acute to acuminate, broadly cuneate and abruptly narrowing below into the elongate, 2 to 3.6" [5 to 9.6 cm] long, canaliculate, petiolate base leaves and blooms at most any time of the year on a pilose, terminal, erect, 8.4 to 15.2" [21 to 38 cm] long, provided with 4 to 5, tubular, acute to acuminate sheathing breacts, rachis 4.8 to 5.6" [12 to 14 cm] long, laxly several flowered inflorescence.
"There are 2 speceies with the spur divided into three compartments of which the middle one is longest. ie. P callifera and Pelexia maculata . P callifera has a lip adorned with 2 parallel ridges below the apex of the hypochile while the lip of P maculata is ecallose." Szlachetko & Kolanowska 2019
CAUTION I am not 100% sure of the following IDs for the photos by the Belize Botanical Garden. It does appear to be this species but all references that I have say Panama and South America and I can find none for Belize or the rest of Central America for that matter.
Synonyms *Spiranthes callifera C. Schweinf. 1962
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ;
Bot. Mus. Leafl. 20: 1 C Schweinfurth 1962 as Spiranthes callifera
Flora de Venezuela Foldats Volumen XV Part 1 1969 as Spiranthes callifera drawing ok;
* Flora of Ecuador No 9 225[1]: 247 Garay 1978 drawing ok;
The Orchids of Surinam Werkhoven 1986 as Spiranthes callifera photo ok;
A Field Guide to the Orchids of Costa Rica and Panama Dressler 1993;
Native Orchids of Ecuador Vol IV Dodson 2003 photo ok;
Flora of the Venezuelan Guayana Vol 7 Steyermark, Berry, Yatskievych and Holst 2003 drawing ok
Orchids of French Guiana Szlachetko, Veyret etal 2012 drawing fide
Materials to the Orchid Flora of Colombia Vol 2: 336 Szlachetko & Kolanowska 2019
Materials to the Orchid Flora of Colombia Vol 2: 337 Szlachetko & Kolanowska 2019 drawing fide
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