Catasetum tenebrosum Kraenzel 1910 Photo courtesy of Jay Pfahl
Female flower immediately after opening
Female flower after time Photos courtesy of Jay Pfahl
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Common Name The Dark-Brown Catasetum
Flower Size 1 1/4" [3 cm]
A medium sized, epiphytic or lithophytic species from Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru found at elevations of 500 to 1800 meters in riverine forests on hilly terrain in full sun or on rocks and boulders below them with spindle-shaped, several noded pseudobulbs enveloped basally by several, distichous, foliaceous sheaths carrying 6 to 8, thin, plicate, lanceolate leaves that blooms from the spring till fall from the basal nodes, suberect, 8" [20 cm] long, several to many [4 to 12] flowered, racemose inflorescence that arises from a newly forming pseudobulb with 3 to 8 female flowers or 11 to 17 male flowers. This species needs to be in light to moderate shade to insure male flowers and kept drier but does not require a prolonged rest.
Synonyms Catasetum tenebrosum f. smaragdinum D.E.Benn., Christenson & Collantes 1999
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; Flora Brasilica Vol XII VI Hoehne 1942 drawing fide; AOS Bulletin Vol 68 No 5 1999 photo as C tenebrosa f smaragdinum; The World Of Catasetum Holtz 1999 photo fide; Native Ecuadorian Orchids Vol 1 Dodson/Escobar 1993 drawing/photo fide; AOS Bulletin Vol 71 No 2 2002 drawing; Botanica's Orchids Laurel Glen 2002; Icones Planetarum Tropicarum Plate 409 Dodson 1982 drawing fide; An Illustrated Encycolpedia of Orchids Pridgeon 1982; Flora's Orchids Nash & La Croix 2005; Native Ecuadorian Orchids vol 1 Dodson 1994; Orchids of Peru Schweinfurth 1958; Flora Of Ecuador # 76 225[2] Dodson & Luer 2005; AOS Bulletin Vol 75 No 3 2006 drawing; Orchid Species of Peru Zelenko Bermudez 2009 photo fide; Orquideas del Peru Freuler 2010 photo fide; Las Orquideas del Peru Izerskyy & Bezverhov 2011 photo fide
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