Ponthieva diptera Lindl. & Rchb. f. 1854
Photos by Jay Pfahl
Drawing by Mutis
Common Name or Meaning The Two-Winged Ponthieva
Flower Size 1/2" at largest
Found in Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador and Peru in cloud forests at elevations around 1400 to 2800 meters as a medium to large sized, cool to cold growing terrestrial orchid with 4 to 8 basal, ovate-elliptic, acute to acuminate, gradually narrowing below into the elongate, cuneate, petiolate base leaves that blooms on an erect, terminal, pubescent, 3 1/4" to 5" [8 to 12 cm] long, several to many [8 to 20] flowered inflorescence occuring in the summer in Colombia with scented flowers.
This species and P garayana are very, very similar and may be conspecific but as of yet I do not have good drawings for this species. I await further references to make a final descision.
CAUTION The determinations of this group [P diptera, P garayana, P tuerckheimii] are very difficult to work with photos as there are just not enough angles of the flowers to get the lip right
Synonyms Ponthieva dicliptera Rchb. f. 1886; Ponthieva elata Schlechter 1920; Ponthieva harrisii Cogn. 1909
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; *Bonplandia Rchb.f 1854; Symbolae Antillanae Vol VI Orchidaceae Urban 1909 as P harrisii; Flora of Jamaica Fawcett & Rendle 1910 as P harrisii drawing fide; Die Orchideen der Sudamerikanischen Kordillerenstaaten II Colombia Schlechter 1920 as P elata; Flora de Venezuela Foldats Volumen XV Part 1 1969 drawing hmm; Flora of Ecuador No 9 225[1] Garay 1978; Moscosoa 4: 193 Dod 1986 Native Colombian Orchids Vol 3 COS 1991 as P elata photo fide; The Orchids of Cuba Llamacho & Larramendi 2005; Orchidaceae Antillanae Nir 2000; Flora of the Venezuelan Guayana Vol 7 Steyermark, Berry, Yatskievych and Holst 2003; Native Ecuadorian Orchids Vol 4 Dodson 2003 photo fide; The Orchids of Cuba Llamacho & Larramendi 2005 photofide; Of Men and Orchids Part 1 Jenny 2015 photo not = Pterichis sp; Orquideas de Farallones de Cali Galindo-Tarazona, Haelterman, Zuluaga Trochez and Sebastian Moreno 2020 photo fide
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