Prosthechea

Epidendreae subtribe Laeliinae

Caespitose to trailing epiphytes, rarely terrestrials, rarely pendent. Pseudobulbs cylindric to ovoid, usually compressed, subtended by small non-foliaceous bracts. Leaves one to several, apical, strap-shaped, acute or minutely notched at the apex. Inflorescences terminal racemes, rarely panicles, subsessile or pedunculate, the floral bracts minute. Flowers usually not resupinate. Sepals and petals subsimilar, subequal, free, spreading. Lip unlobed, obscurely three-lobed, rarely three-lobed, clawed, often cupped, usually with a basal callus that conforms to the undersurface of the column, sometimes with additional keels on the lip blade. Column cylindric, flattened on the undersurface, usually three-toothed at the apex, free from the lip, without a foot; pollinia 4, in two equal pairs, on minute caudicles.

A genus of about ## species found throughout the Neotropics. Anacheilium has long been maintained as part of a broadly defined Encyclia.

1 Inflorescences and flowers pendent; sepals and petals clear dark yellow. A. citrinum 1' Inflorescences and flowers not pendent; sepals and petals variously colored. 2 2 Flowers not resupinate, the lip uppermost. 3 2' Flowers resupinate, the lip lowermost. 18 3(2) Lip apex notched. 4 3' Lip apex entire, never notched. 7 4(3) Lip clearly three-lobed. 5 4' Lip unlobed or obscurely three-lobed. 6 5(4') Pseudobulbs to 2.3 in. (6 cm) long, without an elongate neck. A. concolor 5' Pseudobulbs to 2.3 in. (6 cm) long with an elongate neck to 7.8 in. (20 cm) long. A. varicosum 6(4') Sepals and petals brown; lip not tubular. A. ghiesbreghtianum 6' Sepals and petals green; lip tubular at the base. A. mariae 7(3') Lip unlobed or only obscurely three-lobed with the lateral lobes much smaller than the midlobe. 8 7' Lip clearly three-lobed. 13 8(7) Sepals and petals brilliant orange-red. A. vitellinum 8' Sepals and petals combinations of green, yellow or brown, never orange-red. 9 9(8') Apex of lip brilliant magenta. A. brassavolae 9' Apex of lip not distinctly colored and never magenta. 10 10(9') Lip less than half the length of the sepals and petals, the sepals and petals heavily brown-barred. A. boothianum 10' Lip subequal to the other segments, the sepals and petals clear of faintly suffused with brown. 11 11(10') Lip yellow with a series of warty callus. A. lividum 11' Lip white, without warty callus. 12 12(11') Lip wider than long; sepals and petals strongly reflexed. A. pringlei 12' Lip longer than wide; sepals and petals not reflexed, flowers usually shallowly cupped. A. tripunctatum 13(7') Leaves one per pseudobulb. A. rhynchophorum 13' Leaves 2--4 per pseudobulb. 14 14(13') Midlobe of lip obtuse. 15 14' Midlobe of lip acute to acuminate. 17 15(14) Sepals and petals green with bold dark brown bars. A. pantherinum 15' Sepals and petals brown. 16 16(15') Inflorescences panicles; lateral lobes of the lip oblong, much smaller than the midlobe. A. michuacanum 16' Inflorescences racemes; lateral lobes of the lip suborbicular, subequal to the midlobe. A. pterocarpum 17(14') Sepals and petals boldly spotted with dark purple; lip more than twice as long as wide, the apex acuminate. A. prismatocarpum 17' Sepals and petals unmarked or with sparse brown stripes; lip suborbicular, the apex acute. A. venosum 18(2') Lip clearly three-lobed. 19 18' Lip unlobed or obscurely three-lobed. 24 19(18) Outer surface of sepals covered with fleshy trichomes. A. guttatum 19' Outer surface of sepals smooth. 20 20(19') Inflorescences subsessile; midlobe of lip much smaller than the lateral lobes. A. pygmaeum 20' Inflorescences pedunculate; midlobe of lip subequal to or larger than the lateral lobes. 21 21(20') Flowers small, the dorsal sepal to 0.3 in. (0.8 cm) long. 22 21' Flowers larger, the dorsal sepal more than 0.4 in. (1 cm) long. 23 22(21) Flowers cupped, the sepals and petals yellowish-brown. A. ochraceum 22' Flowers not cupped, the sepals and petals yellow with cerise overlay and markings. A. pulcherrimum 23(21') Petals obovate; lateral lobes of the lip subequal to the midlobe; lip color similar to sepals and petals. A. hartwegii 23' Petals spatulate; lateral lobes of the lip much smaller than the midlobe; lip different colored than the sepals and petals, nearly solid blackish maroon. A. sceptrum 24(18') Leaves one per pseudobulb. 25 24' Leaves 2--4 per pseudobulb. 29 25(24) Lip not deeply cupped (cockle-shaped); inflorescences one-flowered. A. garcianum 25' Lip deeply cupped; inflorescences with more than one flower . 26 26(25') Sepals and petals suffused with purple; apical teeth on column fimbriate. A. spondiadum 26' Sepals and petals not suffused with purple, sometimes with small purple spots; apical teeth on the column not divided. 27 27(26') Petals with sparse dark purple spots. A. chimborazoensis 27' Petals unmarked. 28 28(27') Inflorescences produced on immature new growths. A. aemulum 28' Inflorescences produced on fully matured pseudobulbs. A. fragrans 29(24') Lip notched at the apex. 30 29' Lip obtuse to acuminate, never notched. 31 30(29) Central tooth at apex of column smooth. A. ionophlebium 30' Central tooth at apex of column fimbriate. A. radiatum 31(29') Sepals and petals marked with stripes or spots. 32 31' Sepals and petals not marked. 36 32(31) Sepals and petals striped. 33 32' Sepals and petals spotted and barred, not striped. 34 33(32) Sepals and petals with one central purple stripe. . 33' Sepals and petals with several rose-pink stripes; lip elliptic-obovate, acute to acuminate. A. glumaceum 34(32') Lip obtuse; sepals to 0.5 in. (1.2 cm) long. A. abbreviatum 34' Lip acuminate; sepals to 1 in. (2.5 cm) long. A. vagans 35(32') Blade of lip as long as or longer than the column. A. tigrinum 35' Blade of lip about half as long as the column. A. vespum 36(31') Flowers produced sequentially; lip dark brownish-purple with green veins. A. cochleatum 36' Flowers produced at one time; lip variously striped and suffused with purple and maroon, never solid dark brownish-purple. 37 37(36') Flowers usually paired, borne with the lips back-to- back. 38 37' Flowers usually three or more, not oriented in pairs. 39 38(37) Large plants with pseudobulbs to 15.2 in. (39 cm) long; sepals to 2.3 in. (6 cm) longl lip acuminate. A. baculum 38' Miniature plants with pseudobulbs to 2 in. (5 cm) long; sepals to 0.5 in. (1.2 cm) long; lip obtuse. A. calamarium 39(37') Lip deeply cupped (cockle-shaped). 40 39' Lip not cupped, flat or convex. 42 40(39) Leaves consistently two per pseudobulb. 41 40' Leaves 3--4 per pseudobulb. A. chondylobulbon 41(40) Purple stripes on lip from the base to near the margins of the lip; flowers somewhat cupped. A. chacaoense 41' Purple stripes on lip only on the basal half; flowers opening widely with the sepals and petals reflexed. A. trullum 42(39') Lip oblong-lanceolate, not wider than the other segments. A. bulbosum 42' Lip elliptic, wider than the other segments. 43 43(42') Callus bilobed corresponding to the column. A. allemanii 43' Callus of three low ridges running the length of the lip. A. faustum

Bicalho, H. D. 1972. Algumas consideracoes e uma especie nova para o genero Hormidium Lindl. (Orchidaceae) no Brasil. Bol. Soc. Campineira Orquideas 2(4):24-27; Castro N., V. P. and M. A. Campacci 2001. Prosthechea carrii, sp. nov. Orchid Digest 65(2):74-76; Christenson, E. A. 1996. Mesoamerican orchid studies VI: a name change for Encyclia lancifolia. Lindleyana 11(4):222; Dressler, R. L. 1961. A reconsideration of Encyclia (Orchidaceae). Brittonia 13:253-266; Dressler, R. L. 1969. Una Encyclia nueva de Panama. Orquideologia 4:91-##; Dressler, R. L. 1971. El complejo de Encyclia fragrans en los paises andinos. Orquideologia 6:195-203; Hagsater, E. 1982. Encyclia obpiribulbon Hagsater; una vieja especie confundida con Encyclia pterocarpa (Lindley) Dressler. Orquidea (Mex.) 8(2):385-398; Hagsater, E. 1984. Encyclia semiaptera Hagsater, nom. nov. otra especie mal interpretada y su pariente E. linkiana (Klotzsch) Schlechter. Orquidea (Mex.) 9(2):231-242; Higgins, W. E. 1999. The genus Prosthechea: an old name resurrected. Orchids 68(11):1114-1125; Ortiz-Barney, E. and J. D. Ackerman 1999. The cost of selfing in Encyclia cochleata (Orchidaceae). Plant Syst. Evol. 219:55-64; Withner, C. L. 2001. An overview of the genus Prosthechea, sens. str. Orchid Digest 65(2):78-81; Wolff, M. 1993. Encyclia radiata (Lindl.) Dressler 1961. Die Orchidee 44(3): Orchideenkartei Seite 723-724.