Smithsonia straminea C.J.Saldanha 1974

Photo by © Prejith Sampath and his Sahyadrais Blogspot

Common Name The Straw Colored Smithsonia

Flower Size .2" [5 mm]

Found in southern India in semi-evergreen forests at elevations of 100 to 200 meters as a miniature sized, hot growing epiphyte with a very short stem carrying 2 to 4, distichous, coriaceous, elliptic-oblong leaves that blooms in the spring on 1 to 2, from beneath the leaves, shorter than the leaves, bracteate, 4 to 8 flowered inflorescence and carrying sessile, straw colored flowers with red spots.

Synonyms Loxoma straminea (C.J.Saldanha) Pradhan 1979

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; Indian Orchids, A Guide to Identification and Culture Vol 2 Pradhan 1979 as Loxoma straminea drawing ok; Rudolf Schlechter Die Orchideen Band 1B lieferung 19/20 1129 - 1264 Brieger 1988; The Orchids of India A Glimpse Misra 2007 drawing; Lankesteriana Vol 18 [1]: 23–62 Jalal & Jayanth 2018; Orchids of Maharashtra Jalal 2018 photo fide; good

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