Panarica prismatocarpa [Rchb.f] Withner & Harding 2004 Photo courtesy of Eric Hunt, plant grown by Hanging Gardens

Inflorescence Photo courtesy of Allen Black

Plant and Flowers Photo courtesy of Joseph Dougherty

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Common Name The Prism-Shaped Seedpod Panarica

Flower Size 2" [5 cm]

Found in Mexico and Central America in lower montane cloud forests on larger tree branches, this large-sized species has elongate, conic pseudobulbs partially enveloped basally by a few scarious sheaths and carrying 2 to 3 apical, oblong-elliptic, basally conduplicate and clasping leaves and provides bright, long lasting, fragrant flowers in the spring, summer and fall on an apical, erect, to 15" [37.5 cm] long, densly to loosely, few to many [6 to 35] flowered raceme subtended by a papery basal sheath and arising on a newly matured pseudobulb with longlasting waxy, fragrant flowers. Very striking! Grows as a warm to cool epiphytic orchid with moderate light and is found at altitudes of 1200 to 2500 meters.

Synonyms Encyclia prismatocarpa (Rchb. f.) Dressler 1961; Epidendrum maculatum hort.; *Epidendrum prismatocarpum Rchb. f. 1852; Epidendrum uro-Skinneri hort.; Prosthechea prismatocarpa (Rchb. f.) W.E. Higgins 1997; Pseudencyclia prismatocarpa (Rchb.f.) V.P.Castro & Chiron 2003

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 1427 Atwood 1992