Sophronitis wittigiana Barb. Rodr. 1878
Photos by © Jay Pfahl
Photo by © Richard Korber - Australia copyrighted ©
Photo by © David Jubineau Copyright ©
Common Name Wittig's Sophronitis [German Plant Collector - Brazil 1800's]
Flower Size 2 1/2 to 3" [4 to 6.5 cm]
Found in the central mountain range of Espirito Santo State, Brazil in tropical forests as a mini-miniature sized, warm to cool growing epiphyte at elevations of 700 to 2000 meters in gully swamps on mossy, rough-barked trees with globular pseudobulbs that are arranged in two rows along the rhizome and carry a single, apical, ovate, stiff, leathery leaf that blooms in the winter on an apical, 2.4 to 3.2" [6 to 8 cm] long, single to few flowered inflorescence in nature but in cultivation .
Mount this species on cork and give bright light, cool to warm temperatures, with ample water year round with a lessening in the coldest part of the winter.
Synonyms Cattleya wittigiana (Barb.Rodr.) Van den Berg 2008; Cattleya wittigiana f. candida (Roeth & O.Gruss) Van den Berg 2008; Hadrolaelia wittigiana ( Barb.Rodr. ) Chiron & V.P.Castro 2002; Hadrolaelia wittigiana f. candida (Roeth & O.Gruss) Roeth & O.Gruss 2005; Sophronitis grandiflora var rosea Hort 1884; Sophronitis grandiflora var. purpurea (Rchb.f.) A.H.Kent 1887; Sophronitis purpurea Rchb.f 1878; Sophronitis rosea Gostling 1884; Sophronitis rosea var wittigiana Barb Rodr.; Sophronitis violacea O'Brien 1886; Sophronitis wittigiana f. candida Roeth & O.Gruss 2005; Sophronitis wittigiana var. longifolia Cogn. 1901
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; Iconografia de Orchidaceae Do Brasil Hoehne 1949 as S grandiflora var rosea drawing fide; AOS Bulletin Vol 39 #5 1970 as S coccinea var rosea photo fide; *Orchid Digest Vol 36 No 5 1972 photo fide; Orchidaceae Brasilienses Pabst & Dungs Band I 1975 drawing fide; Orchid Digest Vol 42 No 2 1978 photo fide; AOS Bulletin Vol 47 No 7 1978 as S rosea var wittigiana; Orchid Digest Vol 47 No 2 1983 photo fide; Orchid Digest Vol 47 No 3 1983 photo fide; Orchid Digest 51 Vol 1 1987 photo fide; Cattleyas and Their Relatives Withner Vol 3 1990 photo/drawing fide; Orchid Digest Vol 55 No 4 1991 photo fide; Orchid Digest Vol 58 No 4 1994 photo fide; Orchid Digest Vol 61 #3 1997 photo fide; Rudolf Schlechter Die Orchideen Band 1C lieferung 42 - 43 pg 2626 - 2762 Brieger 2001 ; AOS Bulletin Vol 72 No 7 2003 photo fide; AOS Bulletin Vol 73 No 5 2004 photo fide; Mille et Une Mini Orchideees Roguenant 2009 photo fide; Orchidees Du Bresil As Orchideas da Serra Do Castello Vol 3 Chiron & Bolsanello 2013 as Hadrolaelia pygmaea drawing/photo fide; A Compendium of Miniature Orchid Species Parsons & Gerritsen 2013 as Cattleya wittigiana photo fide; Orchid Digest Vol 78 #4 2014 as Cattleya wittigiana photo fide; AOS Bulletin Vol 85 #1 2016 as Cattleya wittigiana photo fide; AOS Bulletin Vol 86 # 7 2017 as Cattleya wittigiana photo fide; AOS Bulletin Vol 86 # 11 2017 as Cattleya wittigiana photo fide; AOS Bulletin Vol 88 #3 2019 as Cattleya wiitigiana photo fide; AOS Bulletin Vol 89 #2 2020 photo fide
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