Prosthechea brachiata [Rich & Gal.] Dressler & Pollard 1971

Plant in situ in Mexico

Photos courtesy of Weyman Bussey

Drawing

Drawing by R Jimenez/Hagsater/Soto

to through MOSTLY

Common Name The Branched Prosthechea

Flower Size .6" [1.5 cm]

Found in Guerrero and Oaxaca states of Mexico in moist pine-oak forests, relatively dry barranca forests or montane rainforests at elevations of 1700 to 2200 meters in very wet pine-oak forests as a small sized, cool to cold growing epiphyte with loosely clustered, ovoid, strongly flattened pseudobulbs carrying a single, apical, coriaceous-subfleshy, elliptic to narrowly elliptic to oblong-elliptic, acute, strongly conduplicate basally leaf that blooms on an erect, 6" to 10" [15 to 25 cm] long, several to many [13 to 24] flowered, racemose inflorescence occuring in the fall through mostly spring and carrying strongly fragrant flowers.

"The glaucous plants have ancipitouse, elliptic to suborbicular, unifoliate pseudobulbs, the greenish-orange flowers boldly blotched with dark brown, the lip with very narrow lateral lobes, and the loose panicle are characteristic. It is probably more closely related to Prosthechea bicamerata [Rchb.f] Higgins 1997, with immaculate flowers and thicker pseudobulbs, and to !Prosthechea glauca (Sw.) Knowles & Westc. 1838. with immaculate flowers and reduced midlobe of the lip. The flower is similar in size and structure to that of Prosthechea panthera (Rchb. f.) W.E. Higgins 1997, a creeping species with very different, non-ancipitouse, elongate, ovoid-fusiform, 2-leaved pseudobulbs, linear, coriaceous leaves, and shorter racemes." Miguel Soto/Hagsater 2008

Synonyms Encyclia brachiata (A. Rich. & Galeotti) Dressler & G.E. Pollard 1971; *Epidendrum brachiatum A. Rich. & Galeotti 1945

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ;

Ann. Sci. Nat., Bot., sér. 3, 3: 20 A Rich & Galeotti 1845 as Epidendrum brachiatum;

The Genus Epidendrum Ames 1936 as Epidendrum brachiatum;

Phytologia 21: 436 Dressler & G E Pollard1971 as Encyclia brachiata

*Phytologia 82: 376 W E Higgins 1997 publ. 1998;

The Cattleyas and Their Relativews Vol 7 The Debateable Epidendrum Withner & Harding 2004 photo ok;

Icones Orchidacearum fascile 10 plate 1031 Hagsater & Soto 2008 drawing fide;

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