!Acacallis cyanea Lindley 1853 Photo by © Lourens Grobler

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Common Name The Dark Blue Acacalis

Flower Size 2 1/2" [6.25 cm]

A small sized, hot to warm growing epiphytic plant with fusiform, slightly compressed, rugose psuedobulbs covered with papery bracts and with a single to two coriaceous, oblong-lanceolate, short petiolate leaves, a visible, creeping, slender rhizome and a 12" [30 cm] long, basal, slender inflorescence that is slightly longer than the leaves and arises from the base of a mature psuedobulb and is erect to arching, carries loosely few to several [to 10] showy, fragrant flowers and blooms in the late winter until summer mostly in the late spring. They are found in Colombia, Venezuela and Brazil as an epiphyte with an ascending growth habit and as such does well on tree fern or cork slabs. In nature these plants are often found semi-submerged by flooding rivers in the Amazon area with only the flowers above the water line. This orchid will thrive if given a hot, humid environment with lots of shade or dappled sunlight and room for the plant to expand. Daily mistings while in growth are greatly appreciated.

Synonyms Acacallis coerulea (Rchb. f.) Schltr. 1918; Acacallis hoehnei (Hoehne) Schltr. 1918; Acacallis oliveriana (Rchb. f.) Schltr. 1914; Aganisia coerulea Rchb.f 1876; Aganisia cyanea Rchb.f not Benth. 1869; Aganisia oliveriana Rchb. f. 1878; Aganisia tricolor NE Br. 1885; Kochiophyton caeruleum Hoehne 1910; Kochiophyton coeruleus Hoehne 1906; Kochiophyton coeruleus Hoehne 1910; Kochiophyton negrense Schlechter 1906

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; Venezuelan Orchids Vol 2 Dunsterville & Garay 1961 as Aganisia cyanea; Flora de Venezuela Foldats Volumen XV Part 4 1970; Orchids of Venezuela [An illustrated field guide] Vol. 1 Dunsterville and Garay 1979; Native Colombian Orchid Vol 1 COS 1990; Simon & Schuster's Guide to Orchids Fanfani & Rossi 1988; Manual of Orchids Stewart 1995; Encylopedia of Cultivated Orchids Hawkes 1965; Manual of Cultivated Orchids Bechtel, Cribb, Laurent 1992; The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Orchds Pridgeon 1992; Orchidaceae Brasilienses Vol 2 Pabst - Dungs 1977; Flora Brasilica Hoehne 1953; Flora's Orchids Nash and La Croix 2005

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