Polystachya virginea Summerh. 1942 SECTION Cultriformes

Inflorescence Photos by Lourens Grobler ©

Common Name or Meaning The Virginal Polystachya [refers to the flowers color] - The Snow-Drop Orchid

Flower Size 1" [2.5 cm]

Found in Burundi, Rwanda, Zaire and Uganda in montane forests at elevations of 2200 to 2600 meters as a small to medium sized, cold growing epiphyte with cylindrical to narrowly conical pseudobulbs carrying a single apical, lanceolate, obtuse, leathery leaf that blooms on a terminal, 2 to 4" [5 to 10 cm] long, racemose, to 10 flowered inflorescence with non-resupinate, long-lasting, fragrant flowers

Synonyms Polystachya virginea var. parva Geerinck 1993 publ. 1994

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; AOS Bulletin Vol 32 No 10 1963 photo fide; Orchids of East Africa Piers 1968 photo fide; AOS Bulletin Vol 38 #2 1969 photo fide; Flora of Tropical East Africa Orchidaceae Part 2 Cribb 1984; The Manual Of Cultivated Orchid Species Bechtel, Cribb & Launert 1992 photo fide; African Orchids in the Wild and Cultivation Le Croix 1997;Orchid Digest Vol 71 No 3 2007 photo fide; Orchidaceae of West Central Africa Vol 2 Szlatch. etal 2014 drawing ok

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