Pelexia laxa (Poepp. & Endl.) Lindl. 1840
Photos courtesy of Christian Gegenbauer
Common Name The Lax Pelexia
Flower Size .4" [1 cm]
Found in Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Colombia, Venezuela, Surinam, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Brazil and Argentina in rainforsts at elevations of 200 to 2100 meters as a medium to large sized, hot to cool growing terrestrial with fleshy, fasciculate roots giving rise to a few basal, somewhat thinly, elongate petiolate, dark green mottled white leaves and blooms on an erect, reddish, pubescent, many flowered inflorescence enveloped by various acuminate, pubescent bracts. The above pictured species fits the description of Pelexia maculata if you feel that it is a separate species as does Christenson & Bennett.
Synonyms Gyrostachys longipetiolata (Rchb.f.) Kuntze 1891; Pelexia curvicalcarata (C.Schweinf.) Garay in ?; Pelexia lindmaniana (Kraenzl.) Schltr. 1920; Pelexia longipetiolata (Rchb.f.) Schltr. 1918; Pelexia maculata Rolfe 1893; Pelexia weirii (Rchb.f.) Schltr. 1920; Spiranthes curvicalcarata C.Schweinf. 1941; Spiranthes laxa (Poepp. & Endl.) C.Schweinf. 1941; Spiranthes longipetiolata Rchb.f. 1866; Spiranthes maculata (Rolfe) C.Schweinf. 1941; Spiranthes weirii Rchb.f. 1870; *Stenorrhynchos laxum Poepp. & Endl. 1836; Stenorrhynchos lindmanianum Kraenzl. 1911; Stenorrhynchos weirii (Rchb.f.) Cogn. 1895
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list ,IPNI ; Xenia Orchidaceae vol 2 Rchb.f 1873 as Spiranthes weirii drawing fide; Flora Brasilica Vol XII II Hoehne 1945 as P lindmaniana drawing hmm; Flora Brasilica Vol XII II Hoehne 1945 as P maculata drawing good; Venezuelan Orchids Illustrated Vol 6 Dunsterville & Garay 1976 as Spiranthes funckiana drawing fide; AOS Bulletin Vol 31 No 8 1962 photo as Spiranthes maculata; Encyclopedia of Cultivated Orchids Hawkes 1965 as Pelexia maculata drawing ok; Flora de Venezuela Volumen 15 Parte 3 Foldats 1970 as Spiranthes funckiana drawing fide; Flora of Ecuador No 9 225[1] Garay 1978 drawing fide; Orchids of Venezuela An Illustrated Field Guide Vol 3 Dunsterville & Garay 1979 drawing fide; Icones Planetarum Tropicarum Plate 1246 Hamer 1985 drawing hmm; Icones Planetarum Tropicarum Series II Orchids of Bolivia plate 0363 Dodson & Vasquez 1989 drawing ok; Icones Orchidacearum Peruviarum Plate 149 Bennett & Christenson 1993 as Pelexia maculata drawing ok; Native Colombian Orchids Vol 6 COS 1998 photo no; Orchids of Venezuela [An illustrated field guide] Vol. 3 Ramiro and Carnevali 2000 drawing fide; Native Ecuadorian Orchids Vol 4 Dodson 2003 drawing/photo fide; Flora of the Venezuelan Guayana Vol 7 Steyermark, Berry, Yatskievych and Holst 2003; Orchids of The Brazilian Central Plateau Menezes as P maculata 2004 photo ok; Orchid Species of Peru Zelenko & Bermudez 2009 photo fide
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