Sophronitis riograndensis Campacci & Rosim 2020
Photos by © Mauro Rosim
Common Name The Rio Grande do Sul Sophronitis [ A state of southern Brazil]
Flower Size
Found in Rio Grande do Sul state of Brazil in montane forests at elevations around 1000 meters as a mini-miniature sized, warm to cool growing epiphyte with green, cylindrical-spindle shaped, smooth becoming rugose with age pseudobulbs enveloped by off-white, papery, dehiscent sheaths and carrying a single, green, sometimes spotted with purple on the abaxial side, fleshy, leathery, elliptic, acute leaf that blooms in the spring on a terminal, peduncle reddish, 1.4" [3.5 cm] long, single flowered inflorescence with triangular, acute floral bracts.
Very similar to S coccinea but S riograndensis differs in the much smaller plant, smaller flowers with a showy yellow lip marked by red veins and the lip is much more strongly trilobed while S coccinea has a much less bicolored lip which is triangular, narrow and patently more acute midlobe. Also S riograndensis has a large population in which both the plants and the flowers are uniform in these characteriztics and lastly the plant is very easy to mantain and forms large clumps in cultivation while S coccinea is notoriously difficult to keep alive.
Synonyms
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ;
*CAOB Boletim #119 Campacci & Rosim 2020 drawing/photo fide;
Orchids (West Palm Beach) 92: 326 J.M.H.Shaw & H.C.Pritch. 2023 as Cattleya riograndensis
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