!Altensteinia fimbriata Kunth 1816
Photo by © Rafael Robles
Photo by © Eric Hunt
More Mature Inflorescence in situ Peru
Photo by © Jay Pfahl.
LATE 
to EARLY 
Common Name or Meaning The Fringed Altenseinia
Flower Size 3/4" to 1" [2 to 2.5 cm]
This robust, terrestrial plant is photographed in situ in Pisac, Peru and also occurs in Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador and Bolivia at an elevation of 1800 to 3300+ meters on grassy or rocky slopes in wet montane forests or cloud forests and on steep, brush covered slopes of broken granite rock, where it was blooming in May but can be found in bloom in the late spring and early summer. It has cauline, lanceolate, clasping, acuminate, spirally arranged, yellow green leaves and blooms on a terminal, erect, 15" [37.5 cm] long, spicate [looks like a bottle brush] raceme with numerous basal bracts.
Synonyms Altensteinia sceptrum Rchb. f. 1854
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; Bonplandia Rchb.f 1855 as A sceptrum; Beitrage Zur Orchideenkunde Von Colombia 27:21 Schlechter 1924 as A sceptrum; Orchids of Peru Vol 1 Schweinfurth 1958; Encylopedia of Cultivated Orchids Hawkes 1965 Genus only; Venezuelan Orchids Illustrated Vol 6 Dunsterville & Garay 1976 drawing fide; Flora of Ecuador No 9 225[1] Garay 1978 drawing fide; Orchids of Venezuela [An illustrated field guide] Vol. 1 Dunsterville and Garay 1979 drawing fide; AOS Bulletin Vol 49 No 2 1980 photo fide; Flora Of Ecuador # 76 225[2] Dodson & Luer 2005; Native Ecuadorian Orchids Vol 1 Dodson 1993 photos fide; Phylogeny and Classification of the Orchid Family Dressler 1993 photo fide; Native Colombian Orchid Vol 5 COS 1994 photo fide; Icones Orchidacearum Peruviarum Plate 402 Bennet & Christeson 1998 drawing ok; Orchids of Venezuela [An illustrated field guide] Vol. 1 Ramiro and Carnevali 2000 drawing fide; Rudolf Schlechter Die Orchideen Band 1C lieferung 40 pg 2492 - 2564 Brieger 2000; Orquedias Nativas de Tachira Fernandez 2003 photo fide; Macchu Picchu; Orchids Christenson 2003; Flora Of Ecuador # 76 225[2] Dodson & Luer 2005; Orchid Species of Peru Zelenko Bermudez 2009 photo fide; Orchid Digest Vol 74 #3 2010 photo fide; Orchids of the Department of Valle De Cauca Colombia Vol 1 2012 drawing fide; AOS Bulletin Vol 85 #1 2016 photo fide; AOS Bulletin Vol 88 # 1 2019 photo fide; Orchids, A Colombian Treasure Vol 1 Ortiz & Uribe 2014 drawing/photo fide
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
