Microcoelia microglossa Summerh. 1936 SECTION Eumicrocoelia Summerhayes

Plant and Flowers Photos by © M. Simo and The Orchidaceae of Central Africa Website

Common Name The Small Tongued Microcoelia

Flower Size .44" [1.1 cm]

Found in Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon, Zaire and Uganda in dense rainforest on understory trees and bushes at elevations of 470 to 1070 meters as a small to medium sized, hot to warm growing epiphyte with a stem carrying twisting, few branching, terete, smooth roots and acuminate, 5 to 7 nerved, scale leaves that blooms in the fall and winter on up to 4, erect, terete, smooth spreading to 2" [5 cm] long, each to 10 flowered inflorescence.

"This species belongs to the group with very short stems. Its most striking characteristics are the long spur with a short narrowly conical apex, the lamina of the lip being very small, the short column, the short and slightly downward-projecting rostellum and the pollinia. In external characters the species closely resembles M. caespitosa , which, however, has a long slender column from near the base of which the upwardly directed long rostellum-lobes arise. With this is associated a long pollinia-stipes, which is sharply geniculate in the middle and provided with an elongated elliptical-lanceolate viscidium." Summerhayes 1936

Synonyms

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ;

* Bull. Misc. Inform. Kew 1936: 231 Summerhayes 1936

Bot. Mus. Leafl. 11: 147 Summerhayes 1943

* Bot. Mus. Leafl. 11: 255 Summerhayes 1945 Rudolph Schlechter Die Orchideen Band 1B lieferung 16/17/18 945-1128 Brieger 1985; Flora of Tropical East Africa Part 3 Cribb 1989; Angraecoid Orchids Stewart, Hermans, Campbell 2006 photo fide

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