Pachyphyllum tortuosum Foldats 1969 SECTION Pachyphyllum TYPE Drawing by © Foldats
Drawing of inflorescence and Flowers Photo/drawing by © Karl Senghas and The Swiss Orchid Foundation at the Jany Renz Herbaria Website
Common Name The Twisted Pachyphyllum [refers to the leaves]
Flower Size .04" [1 mm]
Found in Venezuela and Ecuador in dwarf cloud forests on small scrubby trees at elevations of 2600 to 3000 meters as a mini-miniature sized, cold growing epiphyte with a generally decumbent stem enveloped completely by imbricating leaf sheaths and carrying fleshy, somewhat twisted, ventrally usually rather wrinkled, finely mucronate, finely ciliate margins, lanceolate, acute to aristate-acuminate, articulated to the sheaths leaves that blooms on a very short, peduncle .2 to .24” [5 to 6 mm] long, racemose, strongly compressed, sub-alate, 1 to 4 flowered inflorescence arising from the upper leaf axils with large persistent, ovate, acuminate floral bracts and carrying small, yellow flowers.
CAUTION The photo and drawing by Senghas is suspect because it was drawn from a Colombian plant
Synonyms Fernandezia tortuosa (Foldats) M.W.Chase 2011; Valdiviesoa tortuosa (Foldats) Szlach. & Kolan. 2014
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; Flora de Venzuela Vol 15 Part 5 Foldats 1970 drawing fide; Venezuelan Orchids Illustrated Vol 6 Dunsterville & Garay 1976 drawing good; Orchids of Venezuela An Illustrated Field Guide Vol 3 Dunsterville & Garay 1979 drawing good; Orchids of Venezuela [An illustrated field guide] Vol. 2 Ramiro and Carnevali 2000 drawing good; Orquideas Nativas del Tachira Cesar Fernandez 2003 photo fide; Native Ecuadorian Orchids Vol 4 Dodson 2003; Orquideas de Zamora Chinchipe Tomo 1 Epidendroideae Jimenez Hijo 2014
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
