Phreatia imitans Schltr. 1913 SECTION Phreatia

TYPE Drawing by Schlechter and The Swiss Orchid Foundation at the Jany Renz Herbaria Website

LATE EARLY

Common Name The Imitating Phreatia [refers its similarity to P scaphioglossa]

Flower Size

Found in New Guinea on trees in forests at elevations around 250 meters as a mini-miniature sized, hot growing epiphyte with almost no stem carrying glaucous, falcate-oblique, obtuse, narrowing below into the base leaves that blooms in the late fall and early winter on an erect-spreading, slim, peduncle, few bracted, to 2" [5 cm] long, a little shorter than the leaves, 2" to 3.6" [5 to 9 cm] long, subsecund, sublaxly many flowered inflorescence with lanceolate, acuminate, as long as the ovary floral bracts.

Schlechter states that the flowers are white and the leaves of this species and P scaphioglossa are blue green. They differ however in the flower morphology. Another similar species is P gracilis but it differs in the lack of the glaucous [blue green] leaves and has a different shape to the petals.

Synonyms

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; *Orchidaceae of German New Guinea Schlechter 1913 drawing fide

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