!Sophronitis cernua (Lindl.) Lindl. 1838
Photo by Sandra M. Vila
Plant in situ at elevation 2 meters on Sao Paulo State, Brazil beach 100 meters from the sea
Photos by Jay Pfahl
Photo by Dale and Deni Borders
Photo by Ralph Spenser
TYPE Drawing by Lindley
Common Name The Nodding Sophronitis
Flower Size 1" to 1.08" [2.2 to 2.7 cm]
Found in Rio de Janiero, Sao Paulo and Minas Gerais states of Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay [S pterocarpa] as a miniature sized, hot to warm growing epiphyte or occasional lithophyte with densely clustered, subcylindric or ovoid pseudobulb with 2 or 3 basal nodes and carrying a single, apical, thickly coriaceous, broadly ovate or elliptic-ovate, obtuse or minutely apiculate leaf that blooms in the spring on a terminal, erect, 1" to 2" [2 to 5 cm] long, few [4 to 10] flowered inflorescence with nodding flowers.
Mount this species on cork and give hot to warm temperatures, bright light, high humidity, and year round water with less in cooler weather. This species is found near sealevel in Espirito Santo south to Sao Paulo state on rocky slopes or trees often so close to the sea that a slight salt spray can reach them. They can be found in seaside mangrove hammocks and then as one goes inland on the littoral plain to the coastal foothills can be found high above the canopy in lowland trees in full sun with a constant breeze so as to keep them dry even though they are in rainforest conditions. Temp can range from 50 to 110 degrees.
Synonyms Cattleya cernua [Lindley]Beer 1854; Cattleya cernua (Lindl.) ined.; Cattleya pterocarpa (Lindl. & Paxton) Beer 1854; Epidendrum humile Vell. 1881; *Sophronia cernua Lindl. 1827; Sophronia modesta Lindl. 1827; Sophronia pterocarpa (Lindl. & Paxton) Kuntze 1891; Sophronitis cernua var. alagoensis Gomes Ferreira 1998; Sophronitis cernua var. albiflora Cogn. 1907; Sophronitis cernua var. endsfeldzii Pabst 1971; Sophronitis cernua var litoanea hort.; Sophronitis cernua var mineira hort; Sophronitis hoffmannseggii Rchb.f 1842; Sophronitis isopetala Hoffmansegg 1842; Sophronitis modesta Lindley 1828 misspell; Sophronitis nutans Hoffmansegg 1842; Sophronitis pterocarpa Lindl. & Paxt. 1853 misspell
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ;
Bot. Reg. 13: t. 1129 Lindley 1828 as Sophronia cernua;
Bot. Reg. 14: t. 1147 Lindley 1828 as Sophronia modesta;
Fl. Flumin. 9: t. 24 Vell. 1831 as Epidendrum humile nom. illeg.;
* Bot. Mag. 65: t. 3677 Lindley 1838
* Bot. Mag. 65: t. 3677 Lindley 1838 drawing fide
Verz. Orchid.: 27 Rchb.f ex Hoffmans. 1842 as S hoffmannseggella
Verz. Orchid.: 28 Hoffmans. 1842 as S nutans;
Verz. Orchid., ed. 2: 60 Hoffmans. 1843 as S isopetala;
Paxton's Fl. Gard. 3: 11 Lindley & Paxton 1852 as S pterocarpa drawing fide;
Prakt. Stud. Orchid.: 209 Beer 1854 as Cattleya pterocarpa;
Revis. Gen. Pl. 2: 681 Kuntze 1891 as Sophronia pterocarpa
Bull. Soc. Roy. Bot. Belgique 43: 325 Cogn. 1907 as S cernus var albiflora;
Die Orchideen Schlechter 1915;
Encyclopedia of Cultivated Orchids Hawkes 1965;
AOS Bulletin Vol 36 #12 1967 as S sp photo fide;
AOS Bulletin Vol 39 No 5 1970 drawing/photo fide;
Revista Brasil. Orquideas 2(7): ? Pabst 1971 as S cernua var endsfeldzii;
Die Orchideen 3 Auflage Bd 1 Sonderabdruck aus Schlechter Lieferung 11-12 633 - 752 Brieger, Maatsch and Senghas 1981 photo fide;
Orchid Digest Vol 36 No 5 1972 photo fide;
Orchidaceae Brasilienses Pabst & Dungs Band I 1975 drawing fide;
Orchidaceae Brasilienses Pabst & Dungs Band I 1975 as S pterocarpa drawing fide;
AOS Bulletin Vol 47 No 7 1978 as S cernua var endsfelzii photo;
AOS Bulletin Vol 47 No 7 1978 as S pterocarpa;
Orchid Digest 51 Vol 1 1987 photo fide;
Orchid Digest 51 Vol 1 1987 as S pterocarpa drawing fide;
AOS Bulletin Vol 57 No 2 1988 photo;
Orchids Travel By Air A Pictoral Safari Mulder, Mulder-Roelfsema and Schuiteman 1990 photo fide;
Cattleyas and Their Relatives Withner Vol 3 1990 photo fide;
Cattleyas and Their Relatives Withner Vol 3 1990 as S pterocarpa photo fide;
The Manual Of Cultivated Orchid Species Bechtel, Cribb & Launert 1992 photo fide;
AOS Bulletin Vol 9 1996 photo fide;
Orquidário 12: 15 Gomes Ferreira 1998 as S cernua var alagoense;
Orchid Australia Vol 11 No 6 1999 photo;
Orchids Australia Vol 12 No 6 2000 photo;
Rudolf Schlechter Die Orchideen Band 1C lieferung 42 - 43 pg 2626 - 2762 Brieger 2001;
Rudolf Schlechter Die Orchideen Band 1C lieferung 42 - 43 pg 2626 - 2762 Brieger 2001 as S pterocarpa;
AOS Bulletin Vol 72 No 7 2003 photo fide;
Orchids of The Brazilian Central Plateau Menezes 2004 photo fide;
AOS Bulletin Vol 73 No 5 2004 as S cernua var aurea photo fide;
AOS Bulletin Vol 74 No 11 2005 photo fide;
100 Orquideas Argentinas Freuler 2005 photo fide;
Australian Orchid Review Vol 72 No 4 2007 photo;
AOS Bulletin Vol 77 No 11 2008;
Mille et Une Mini Orchideees Roguenant 2009 photo fide;
Neodiversity 5: 13 Van den Berg 2010 as Cattleya cernua
AOS Bulletin Vol 81 #1 2012 as Cattleya cernua photo fide;
Orchidees Du Bresil As Orchideas da Serra Do Castello Vol 3 Chiron & Bolsanello 2013 drawing/photo fide;
A Compendium of Miniature Orchid Species Parsons & Garritsen 2013 as Cattley cernua photos fide;
AOS Bulletin Vol 84 # 12 2015 photo fide;
AOS Bulletin Vol 85 #3 2016 drawing fide;
AOS Bulletin Vol 85 #10 2016 as Cattleya cernua photo fide;
AOS Bulletin Vol 85 #10 2016 Suppl.): 39 K A Roberts 2016 as C cernua var alagoense;
AOS Bulletin Vol 85 #10 2016 Suppl.): 39 K A Roberts 2016 as C cernua var albiflora;
AOS Bulletin Vol 85 #10 2016 Suppl.): 39 K A Roberts 2016 as C cernua var endsfeldzii;
AOS Bulletin Vol 85 #11 2016 as Cattleya cernua photo fide;
AOS Bulletin Vol 86 # 11 2017 as Cattleya cernua photo fide;
Orchid Digest Vol 82 #2 2018 as Cattleya cernua Photo fide;
AOS Bulletin Vol 88 #5 2019 as Cattleya cernua drawing fide;
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