Habenaria melvillei Ridl. 1885 SECTION Macroceratitis Kraenzl. Photos by © J. A. N. Batista
What was H Fastor Photo by © Dalton Holland Baptista and © Orchidstudium
Photos by © J. A. N. Batista; Joćo Batista F. da Silva; Luciano de Bem Bianchetti and the Orquideas de Minas Gerais; El Genero Habenaria
Drawing of H nabucoi Drawing by © Joćo A. N. Batista; Joćo Batista F. da Silva; Luciano de Bem Bianchetti and the The genus Habenaria (Orchidaceae) in the Brazilian Amazon
Drawing of H melvellei Drawings by © Hoehne
LATE
Common Name Melville's Habenaria
Flower Size
Found in Venezuela, Peru and Brazil on roadsides and in swamps always with a wet base at elevations of 1000 to 1200 meters as a large to giant sized, cool growing terrestrial with a claviform, obtuse, white wooly tuber giving rise to an erect, stout stem with 4 to 7, light green, deeply keeled, lanceolate leaves enveloping the stem that blooms in the early summer on a terminal, erect, 8 to 10" [20 to 25 cm] long, 1 to 15 flowered inflorescence.
This is the largest plant and flower of the Habenaria in the Rio de Janiero region.
CAUTION This group, H fastor, H nabucoi, H gourlieana and H macronectar are all fairly similar. I hope I have them separate in a correct fashion. H nabucoi is considered by Kew to be synomonous with this species but I have left them separate for now. H fastor is also considered by Kew to be synomonous with H melvillei.
Synonyms Habenaria fastor Lindl. ex Warm. 1884 publ. 1886; Habenaria gourlieana f. magna Hoehne 1919; ?Habenaria nabucoi Ruschi 1973?; Kusibabella fastor (Lindl. ex Warm.) Szlach. 2004
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; Flora Brasilica Vol XII I Hoehne 1940 as H fastor drawing fide; Orchidaceae Brasilensis Band 1 Pabst & Dungs 1975 as H fastor drawing fide; Orchidaceae Brasilenses Band 1 Pabst and Dungs 1975; Orchids of the High Mountain Atlantic Rainforest in SE Brazil Warren & Miller 1994 as H fastor drawing hmm; The Organ Mountain Range, its History and its Orchids Miller, Warren, Miller & Seehawer 2008 as H fastor drawing hmm/photo photo hmm [no upright lobe to petal]; Materials to the Orchid Flora of Colombia Vol 1 Szlachetko & Kolanowska 2017 drawing/photo fide
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