!Sobralia dichotoma Ruiz & Pavon 1798 SECTION Sobralia
Photo at Macchu Picchu by Jay Pfahl
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Common Name The Two Piece Sobralia
Flower Size more than 4" [more than 10 cm]
From Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia, this tall, giant sized, terrestrial species from open woodlands on granite outcrops, grows in warm to cool conditions at elevations of 750-2800 meters with stout, caespitose, leafy stems carrying narrowly lanceolate to ovate-lanceolate, lang-acuminate, rigid, chartaceous, plicate, leaves and blooms on a terminal, 8" [20 cm] long, dichotomously branched, racemose, many flowered, inflorescence successive opening, fragrant, fleshy flowers arising from the axils of the upper 4 leaves and occuring in the summer and fall.
The photo above was taken in situ on top of Macchu Picchu 5/11/00. The plant was over 3 1/2 meters tall and was only photographable as it was growing over the edge of a steep cliff and the flower was at eye level.
Synonyms Brasolia dichotoma (Ruiz & Pav.) Baranow, Dudek & Szlach. 2017; Cattleya dichotoma [Ruiz & Pavon]Beer 1854; Cattleya tichotoma Beer 1854; Sobralia mandonii Rchb.f 1873; Sobralia mandonii f. coerulea Christenson 2002
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; Bonplandia Rchb.f 1854; Bonplandia Rchb.f 1855; Bonplandia Rchb.f 1856; Xenia Orchidaceae vol 2 Rchb.f 1873 as S mandonii drawing; Xenia Orchidaceae Vol 3 Reichenbach 1878 as S mandonii; Die Orchideen Schlechter 1915; Encyclopedia of Cultivated Orchids Hawkes 1965; Flora de Venezuela Volumen XV Part 1 Foldats 1969 drawing not = S ciliata; Die Orchideen lieferung #13 753 - 816 Bulbophyllinae Brieger 1983; Icones Planetarum Tropicarum Series II Orchids of Peru Plate 0173 Dodson & Bennett 1989 drawing ok; Icones Planetarum Tropicarum Series II plate 0297 Dodson & Vasquez 1989 drawing ok; Native Colombian Orchids Vol 4 COS 1992; The Manual Of Cultivated Orchid Species Bechtel, Cribb & Launert 1992 photo fide; AOS Bulletin Vol 69 No 12 2000 photo fide; Rudolf Schlechter Die Orchideen Band 1C lieferung 42 - 43 pg 2626 - 2762 Brieger 2001; AOS Bulletin Vol 71 # 11 2002 photofide; AOS Bulletin Vol 71 No 12 2002 as S mandonii; Flora of the Venezuelan Guayana Vol 7 Steyermark, Berry, Yatskievych and Holst 2003; Orchids of Bolivia Vol 2 Laelinae Vasquez and Ibisch 2004 drawing/photo fide; Orquideologia Vol. 23 No 1 2004; Orchid Species Of Peru Zelenko & Bermudez 2009 photo fide; Orchid Digest Vol 74 #3 2010 photo fide; Orquideas del Peru Freuler 2010 photo fide; Las Orquideas del Peru Izerskyy & Bezverhov 2011 photo fide; Orchid Digest Vol 79 #3 2015 photo fide; Pl. Syst. Evol. 303: 868 Baranow, Dudek & Szach. 2017 photo fide
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