Polystachya fusiformis (Thouars) Lindl. 1925 SECTION Superpositae Kranzlin
Photo by © Alan Gregg
Photos by Bart Wursten ©, and his Flora Of Zimbabwe WebSite
Common Name The Fusiform Polystachya [refers to the pseudobulbs]
Flower Size .1" [2 mm]
Found in Ghana, Cameroon, Gabon, Gulf of Guinea Islands, Rwwanda, Zaire, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mauritius, Madagascar, Reunion, Seychelles and Cape, Natal and Transvall states of South Africa in warm forests at elevations of 900 to 2300 meters as a mass-forming, small to large sized, erect to pendant, warm to cold growing epiphyte with slender, cylindric to fusiform pseudobulbs each arising from the center of a previous one and carrying 2 to 4, only on the terminal pseudobulb, lanceolate to oblanceolate leaves that blooms in the spring summer and early fall on a termianl, erect, pubescent, 2 to 3" [4 to 8 cm] long, densely many flowered, usually paniculate but occasionally racemose inflorescence with lanceolate, acuminate bracts
Synonyms *Dendrobium fusiforme Thouars 1822; Dendrorkis minutiflora (Ridl.) Kuntze 1891; Polystachya composita Kraenzl. 1926; Polystachya fusiformis var. purpurascens Cordem. 1895; Polystachya fusiformis var. virescens Cordem. 1895; Polystachya minutiflora Ridl. 1883; Polystachya multiflora Ridl. 1885
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; Historie Particulier des Plantes Orchidees Recueilles Sur Trois Iles Australes d'Afrique Thouars 1822 as Dendrobium fusiforme drawing fide; Flora of Madagascar Orchidaceae Perrier 1939 as P minutiflora; Flora of Madagascar Orchidaceae Perrier 1939; Orchids of East Africa Piers 1968; The Epiphytic Orchids of Malawi Morris 1970 drawing ok; The Orchids of South Central Africa Williamson 1977 drawing ok; Wild Orchids of Southern Africa Stewart, Linder, Schelpe & Hall 1982 photo fide; Malawi Orchids vol 1 La Croix 1983 drawing fide; Flora of Tropical East Africa Orchidaceae Part 2 Cribb 1984; Rudolf Schlechter Die Orchideen Band 1B lieferung 23 1393 - 1456 Brieger 1990; Orchids of Kenya Stewart 1996 photo good; African Orchids in the Wild and Cultivation La Croix 1997 drawing good; Flora Zambesiaca Vol 11 Orchidaceae Part 2 Pope 1998; Orchids of Southern Africa Linder & Kurzweil 1999 photo ok; Orchids of Madagascar Hermans 2007 photo; Field Guide to the Orchids of Northern South Africa and Swaziland McMurty, Grobler, Grobler & Burns 2008 photo fide; Field Guide to the Orchids of Madagascar Cribb & Herman 2009 photo; Orchidaceae of West Central Africa Vol 2 Szlachetko etal 2015 drawing good; Les Orchidees de Madagascar Bosser & Lecoufle 2015 photo fide; A la Recherche des Orchidees de Madagascar Hervouet 2018 photo fide;
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