Encyclia amanda (Ames) Dressler 1971 Photo courtesy of Glen Ladnier

THROUGH LATE

Common Name The Lovely Encyclia

Flower Size 1/2" to 3/4" [1.25 to 1.9 cm]

Found from Oaxaca, Chiapas and Quintana Roo states of Mexico and Belize south to Panama in low rain forest as a small sized, hot growing, epiphyte at elevations of 40 to 1000 meters with pyriform, rugose pseudobubls enveloped basally by several, imbricating, scarious sheaths carrying 2 [sometimes one] apical, coriaceous, ligulate leaves and blooms in the winter on a racemose, 4 3/4" [12 cm] long, few [4 to 5] flowered inflorescence arising on a mature or maturing pseudobulb.

This species is said to be synomonous with Encyclia chloroleuca, but I will leave them separate at this time.

Synonyms *Epidendrum amandum Ames 1923

References W3 Tropicos [http://mobot.mobot.org/W3T/Search/vast.html] , Kew Monocot list [ http://www.kew.org/wcsp/home.do ], IPNI [ http://www.us.ipni.org/ipni/plantsearch?request_type=search&output_format=query&ret_defaults=on Icones Planetarum Tropicarum Plate 1016 Dodson 1984; Icones Orchidacearum 5 & 6 Orchids Of Mexico Parts 2 & 3 Plate 555 Hagsater, Soto 2002; Vanishing Beauty; Native Costa Rican Orchids Vol 1 Pupulin 2005