Polystachya longiscapa Summerh. 1934 SECTION Dendrobianthe Schlechter Photo by Danny Lentz ©, plant grown by the Atlanta Botanical Garden

Inflorescence Photo by Lourens Grobler

to

Common Name The Long Inflorescence Polystachya

Flower Size 2" [5 cm]

Found in Tanzania as a medium to large sized, cool growing lithophyte on mountain slopes at elevations of 1100 to 1600 meters with conical, clustered pseudobulbs carrying 4 to 8, linear, acute, sometimes purple blotched, deciduous leaves that blooms in the spring on a terminal, 3 foot [90 cm] long, branched, several flowered inflorescence with overlapping sheaths. Give this species a bark or terrestrial mix, bright light and a dry winter rest after the leaves fall.

"This plant is clearly allied to P. dendrobiflora , which is a native of Kilimanjiro, and almost a small edition of the present species. However, apart from size the two species differ in flower- colour ; also in P. flexuosa the lip is softly hairy on the disc whereas in P. longiscapa it is quite glabrous. The interesting feature in both is the relatively long scape and terminal short and dense inflorescence which in P. longiscapa is branched." Summerhayes 1934

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ;

* Bull. Misc. Inform. Kew 1934: 211 Summerhayes 1934 AOS Bulletin Vol 52 No 11 1983 photo fide; Flora of Tropical East Africa Orchidaceae Part 2 Cribb 1984; Die Orchideen Band 1B lieferung 23 1393 - 1456 Brieger 1990 ; African Orchids in the Wild and Cultivation La Croix 1997 photo fide; Orchid Digest vol 71 #3 2007 photo fide; AOS Bulletin Vol 85 #4 2016 photo fide;

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