Mindful of Peter O'Byrne's recent comments about the difficulty of identifying orchids from photos, I won't ask for a positive identification of this plant. Rather, I will ask if anyone can confirm whether or not its label is correct (and any other speculation as to its identity would, of course, be welcome).
http://home.nc.rr.com/myrmecophyte/Encycliasp.jpg http://home.nc.rr.com/myrmecophyte/Encycliasp3.jpg The plant in these two photos was sold to me as Encyclia alboxanthina, which Carl Withner considers a synonym of E. pachyantha. Sepals and petals are green, lip is pale yellow/straw colored with purple stripes, and the anther cap is orange. The pseudobulbs have two or three leaves, and the inflorescence is branched. Notably, the flowers are arranged at odd angles on the inflorescence. Some are non-resupinate, and others are sideways. Relatively few are actually resupinate like most Encyclias. The plant does have some characteristics in common with E. pachyantha: The leaves lack an abscission layer, so they never fall off, and the color of the anther cap seems correct. However, Withner says that the leaves of E. pachyantha are thin and broad. This plant has narrow, rigid leaves that are very leathery, almost succulent. The leaves look a lot like seedlings of E. phoenicea and E. x raganii that I am growing, but the flowers don't match any of the Caribbean species. Withner says that the leaves of Encyclia pachyantha and Encyclia gracilis lack a functional abscission layers. Are their any others? There's a photo labeled E. pachyantha here, but as you can see, it doesn't match. http://www.orkideas.com.br/inicio/colecoes/para01.html Given the odd angles of the flowers, I wonder if this might be a hybrid of a non-resupinate and a resupinate species. Any thoughts? Nick -- Nicholas Plummer [EMAIL PROTECTED] _______________________________________________ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
