Pelexia pterygantha (Rchb.f. & Warm.) Schltr. 1920
SECTION Pachygenium
Photo by Marcelo Pedron and his Flickr Orchid Photo Website
Drawings by Hoehne
Common Name The Feather-Shaped Flower Pelexis
Flower Size 1/2" [1.25 cm]
Found in Minas Gerais state of Brazil at elevations below 800 meters as a large sized, warm growing terrestrial orchid with a single, basal, ellipitc, acute, gradually narrowing below into the elongate, conduplicate petiolate base leaf that blooms in the fall on an erect, terminal, peduncle 35.2" [88 cm] long, enveloped completely by 8 to 10, inflated, lanceolate, lightly puberulent,acute sheathing bracts, rachis 4.8" [12 cm] long, densely many flowered inflorescence with linear, acute, pubescent, as long as the flower floral bracts and carrying scented flowers.
"Schlechter stated that this species has a very thick spur and resembles Pelexia orobanchoides in the shape of the lip, however it is more elongated and has larger auricles at its base. P pterygantha has the lip more constricted and narrower than in P orobranchoides. The rostellum has a wide base and narrows towards the apex. A characteristic feature of this species is its spur. It is more or less scrotiform in the anterior part under the forward facing, obtuse and narrower at the base lateral sepals." Hoehne 1945
Synonyms Gyrostachys pterygantha (Rchb.f. & Warm.) Kuntze 1891; Pachygenium dolichorhizum (Schltr.) Szlach., R.González & Rutk. 2001; Pachygenium pteryganthum (Rchb.f. & Warm.) Szlach., R.González & Rutk. 2001; Pelexia dolichorhiza Schltr. 1920; *Spiranthes pterygantha Rchb.f. & Warm. 1881; Stenorrhynchos pteryganthum (Rchb.f. & Warm.) Cogn.1895
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ;
Otia Bot. Hamburg.: 86 Rchb.f 1881 as Spiranthes pterygantha
Revis. Gen. Pl. 2: 664 Kuntze 1891 as Gyrostachys pterygantha
Fl. Bras. 3(4): 171 Cogniaux 1895 as Stenorrhynchos pteryganthum
* Beih. Bot. Centralbl., Abt. 2. 37: 405 Schlechter 1920
Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. 16: 325 Schlechter 1920 as Pelexia dolichorhiza
Flora Brasilica Fasc. 8 Vol XII II 13-43: 222 Orchidaceae Hoehne 1945 as P dolichorhiza;
Flora Brasilica Fasc. 8 Vol XII II 13-43: tab 112 Orchidaceae Illustrations Hoehne 1945 as P dolichorhiza drawing hmmm;
Flora Brasilica Fasc. 8 Vol XII II 13-43: 240 Orchidaceae Hoehne 1945 ;
Flora Brasilica Fasc. 8 Vol XII II 13-43: Tab 126 Orchidaceae Illustrations Hoehne 1945 drawing fide;
Orchidaceae Brasilenses Band 1: 280 #437 Pabst & Dungs 1975 drawing fide;
Orchids of The Brazilian Central Plateau Menezes 2004 photo not = P ventricosa fide
Polish Bot. J. 46: 4 Szlach. R.González & Rutk. 2001 as Pachygenium dolichorhizum
Polish Bot. J. 46: 5 Szlach. R.González & Rutk. 2001 as Pachygenium pteryganthum
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
