Pleurothallis macrophylla Kunth 1816 SUBGENUS Elongatia SECTION Elongatia Luer 1986
Photo by Ecuagenera and their Orchid Website
Photo by Lourens Grobler
Drawing by © Carl Luer
to 
Common Name The Large Leafed Pleurothallis
Flower Size 2" [.8 cm]
Found in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru in cloud forests at elevations of 800 to 3000 meters as a small to medium sized, cold to warm growing, densely caespitose epiphyte and occasional terrestrial with an erect, stout, apically wider and channeled ramicaul enveloped by a spotted, tubular sheath below the middle and basally by 2 more and carrying a single, apical, elliptic, acute, gradually cuneate below into a sessile base leaf that blooms in the spring and fall on an erect, arisingf through a slender spathe, peduncle 3.6 to 4" [9 to 10 cm] long, rachis 6 to 6.4" [15 to 16 cm] long, simultaneously several flowered inflorescence with infundibular, acute, much shorter than the pedicel floral bracts.
"Lindley treated Humboldt’s P. macrophylla as an earlier name for Poéppig’s very different Pleurothallis floribunda (SUBGENUS Crocodeilanthe) that is characterized by several short racemes of small flowers. The vegetatively and florally similar Pleurothallis restrepioides Lindl. 1837 , differs from the typical P. macrophylla in the coarsely pubescent, apical half of the lip. The apical half of the lip of typical P. macrophylla is only minutely verrucose. Otherwise, there is no significant difference between the two concepts. P macrophylla is a large, infrequent species with huge, elliptical, sessile leaves. The raceme of several, large, red brown to purple flowers is ususally a little shorter than the elaf. The species is closely related to the frequent P restrepioides but it is distinguished by a longer leaf and larger, fewer, non-spotted flowers with a variously verrucose apical half of the lip." Luer 1994
Said to be a synonym of Pleurothallis restrepioides Lindl. 1837 but I feel there are enough differences to keep them separate.
CAUTION For years this species has been confused with the very different Pleurothallis ruscifolia and Pleurothallis floribunda characterized by several, short racemes of small flowers.
Synonyms Elongatia macrophylla (Kunth) Luer 2004; Humboltia laurifolia (Rchb.f.) Kuntze 1891; Humboltia macrophylla (Kunth) Kuntze 1891; Humboltia reichenbachiana Kuntze 1891; Humboltia roezlii (Rchb.f.) Kuntze 1891; Pleurothallis laurifolia Rchb.f. 1854; Pleurothallis roezlii Rchb.f. 1876; Stelis macrophylla (Kunth) ined.,
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ;
* Nov. Gen. Sp. 1: 365 H B K 1816;
Bonplandia (Hannover) 2: 23 Rchb.f 1854 as P laurifolia nom. illeg.;
Linnaea 41: 13 Rchb.f 1876 as P roezlii
Revis. Gen. Pl. 2: 667 Kuntze 1891 as Humboltia macrophylla;
Revis. Gen. Pl. 2: 668 Kuntze 1891 as Humboltia reichenbachiana
Revis. Gen. Pl. 2: 668 Kuntze 1891 as Humboltia roezlii
Die Orchideen Schlechter 1915 as P roezli;
Encyclopedia of Cultivated Orchids Hawkes 1965 as P roezlii;
Orchids of Venezuela, An Illustrated Field Guide Vol 3 Dunsterville & Garay 1979 drawing fide;
Icones Planetarum Tropicarum plate 254 Dodson 1980 as P restrepioides drawing fide;
The Orchids of Surinam Werkhoven 1986 photo fide;
Icones Pleurothallidinarum Vol XXVI Pleurothallis subgenus Acianthera and Three Allied subgenera, A Second Century of new Species of Stelis of Ecuador, Epibator, Ophidion and Zootrophion Luer 2004 as Elongatia macrophylla;
Flora of the Venezuelan Guayana Vol 7 Steyermark, Berry, Yatskievych and Holst 2003
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