Pleione kaatiae P.H.Peeters 2003 SECTION Pleione

Photo by © Christian Lueg and the Ground Orchid Website

LATE EARLY

Common Name Kaati's Pleione - In China Ka Shi Du Suan Lan

Flower Size 2.4" [6 cm]

Found in west Sichuan province of China in rocky grasslands in coniferous forests, on mossy rocks along streams and subalpine scrubby meadows at higher elevations as a miniature sized, cool to cold growing terrestrial or lithophyte with green, ovoid to conic, slightly oblique pseudobulbs carrying 2, apical, developing at flowering, lanceolate, oblanceolate to narrowly elliptic, papery, acute apically attenuate below into the petiolate base leaves that blooms in the late spring and early summer on an erect, 4 to 5.2" [10 to 13 cm] long, single flowered inflorescence with lanceolate, shorter than to just as long as the ovary floral bracts.

The Photo above has P kaatiae on the left and P scopulorum on the right. The defining difference between the 2 is P kaatiae has a distinctive ovoid pseudobulb, smaller flowers with narrower falcate petals and a narrower lip with a subacute apex and is predominently papillose on the lip rather than having lamellate callus running the length

Synonyms

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; Flora of China Vol 25 Zhengyi, Raven & Deyuan 2009;

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------