Acanthephippium sylhetense Lindl. 1833

Photo by © Lourens Grobler.

Plant and Flowers Photos courtesy of Danny Lentz and plant grown by the Atlanta Botanical Garden ©

Common Name The Sylhet Acanthephippium [A town in Bangladesh]

Flower Size 3/4" [2 cm]

Found from Assam, Bangladesh, eastern Himalayas, Sikkim, lower India, to Myanamar, Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, Ryukyu Islands and Taiwan in tropical valleys in moist shady locations in dense forests or in wooded ravines at elevations of 500 to 1300 meters as a small to medium sized, hot to cool growing deciduous leafed terrestrial that needs indirect light with ovoid psuedobulbs enveloped basally by leaf sheaths and carrying three, plicate, tapering to each end leaf with a long petiole and blooms in the spring, summer and fall on a basal, short to 3.6" [to 9 cm] long, 3 to 6 flowered inflorescence arising with a new growth with 1 to 3 fragrant, fleshy flowers.

Synonyms Acanthephippium pictum Fukuy. 1935; Acanthephippium ringiflorum Griff. 1851; Acanthephippium sylhetense var. pictum (Fukuy.) T.Hashim. 1985; Acanthephippium yamamotoi Hayata 1916

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; Encylopedia of Cultivated Orchids Hawkes 1965; The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Orchds Pridgeon 1992; The Orchids of Penninsular Malaysia and Singapore Seidenfadden &Wood 1992; Manual of Orchids Stewart 1995; Wild Orchids of China Tsi, Chen Mori 1997; Botanica's Orchids Laurel Glenn 2002; Flora Malesiana Orchids of the Philippines Vol I Agoo, Shuiteman and de Vogel 2003; Orchids of Bhutan Pearce & Cribb 2002