Tetramicra ekmanii Mansf. 1926

Photo by © Jeimy Cordero and her Flickr Orchid Photo Website

Common Name Schomburgk's Tetramicra [German Orchid Collectors Northern South America 1800's]

Flower Size .65" [1.6 cm]

Found in Cuba, Haiti and Dominican Republic in limestone crevasses in almost full sun on dry roadside slopes at elevations around 1500 meters as a miniature to medium sized terrestrial to lithophyte with very thick, velamentous roots and 4 to 6" [10 to 15 cm] between each growth with one to 2, terete, slightly grooved, quill-like leaves that blooms on a terminal, thin, to 24" [60 cm] long, successively several flowered inflorescence with only one to 2 flowers open at any one time.

CAUTION Many references including Kew place T monticristensis as a synonym of this specioes. I have left it separate as many Cubans feel that they are different.

Synonyms

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; Die Orchideen #9 33-36 tafel 9 Rudolph Schlechter 1971 drawing fide; The Cattleyas and Their Relatives Vol IV Withner 1996 as T ekmanii photo fide; Orchidaceae Antillanae Nir 2000; Orchid Flora of the Greater Antilles Ackerman 2014 drawing fide

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