Spathoglottis aurea Lindl. 1850 SECTION Aureae
Photo by © Eric Hunt
Another Flower showing variation in lip side lobes
Photo by © Rici Ricardo
Photo by Peter Maxwell
Common Name or Meaning The Small-Lipped Spathoglottis
Flower Size 2 1/4" [5.5 cm]
Found in penninsular Malaysia, Sumatra, Java, Borneo and New Guinea in lower montane forests on roadside banks, ditches, edges of secondary forests and among mossy rocks near rivers at elevations of 900 to 1700 meters as a small to medium sized, warm growing terrestrial orchid with close set, ovoid pseudobulbs each carrying two to three, lanceolate, acuminate, plicate, petiolate base leaf that blooms in the summer in situ on a 2" or more [60 cm+] long, racemose inflorescence with flowers that may be self-pollinating and not open well.
J.J.Wood writes that S microchilina "has a very narrow, pointed, almost thread-like lip, only 1mm wide, whereas the lip of S aurea may be as much as .16" [4 mm] wide and generally is a little more expanded and obtuse at the tip. The flowers of S aurea from Penninsular Malaysia, Sumatra and java, and now also recorded from Mt kinabalu are generally larger and of a darker yellow hue. Holttum [1964] admitted that S microchilina needed more field study and it seems possible that we are dealing here with one rather variable species."
Synonyms Spathoglottis microchilina Kraenzl. 1893; Spathoglottis wrayi Hook.f. 1890
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; Icones Plantarum Vol 21 Hooker 1892 as Spathoglottis wrayi drawing fide; Xenia Orchidaceae Vol 3 Reichenbach as S wrayi 1893 drawing; Xenia Orchidaceae Vol 3 Reichenbach 1893; Die Orchideen Von Java J.J.Sm. 1905; Die Orchideen Von Java Figuren Atlas J.J.Smith 1908 drawing fide; Die Orchideen Schlechter 1915; FAOS Bulletin Vol 26 #5 1957 drawing fide; lora of Malaya Vol 1 Holttum 1957 drawing fide; Encyclopedia of Cultivated Orchids Hawkes 1965; Die Orchideen 3 Auflage Bd 1 Sonderabdruck aus Schlechter Lieferung 15 881 - 944 Brieger, Maatsch and Senghas 1984; Die Orchideen 3 Auflage Bd 1 Sonderabdruck aus Schlechter Lieferung 15 881 - 944 Brieger, Maatsch and Senghas 1984 as S microchilina; The Orchids of Penninsular Malaysia and Singapore Wood & Seidenfaden 1992 drawing/photo fide; The Plants of Mount Kinabalu Vol 2 Orchids Beaman, Wood, Beaman & Beaman 1993 as S microchilina drawing/photo fide; A Checklist of the Orchids of Borneo Wood & Cribb 1994; A Checklist of the Orchids of Borneo Wood & Cribb 1994 as S microchilina; Identification of the Orchids [Orchidaceae Juss.] Vietnam Averyanov 1994; A Checklist of the Orchids of Borneo Wood & Cribb 1994 as S microchilina; Orchids of Borneo Wood Vol 3 1997 drawing/photo fide as S microchilina drawing fide; Orchid Digest Vol 63 #2 1999 photo fide; Orchids of Sumatra Comber 2001 photo fide; Orchids of Sarawak Beaman, Wood & Beaman etal 2001; Orchids of Sarawak Beaman, Wood & Beaman etal 2001 as S microchilina; Lindleyana Vol 17 No 1 2002; Flora Malesia Orchids of New Guinea Vol V 2008; Wild Orchids of the Cameron Highlands REACH 2009 photo fide; The Orchids of Mount Kinabalu Vol 1 Wood, Beaman, Lamb, Chu Lun and Beaman 2011 as S microchilina drawing fide; The Orchids of Mount Kinabalu Vol 2 Wood, Beaman, Lamb, Chu Lun and Beaman 2011 photo good; The Orchids of Mount Kinabalu Vol 2 Wood, Beaman, Lamb, Chu Lun and Beaman 2011 as S microchilina; Orchids of Penninsular Malaysia Ong, O'Byrne, Yong & Saw 2011 photo fide; A to Z of South East Asian Orchid Species Vol 2 O'Byrne 2011 photo fide
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