Microchilus weberianus (Garay) Ormerod 2002

Drawing by © Lisa Megahee and The Swiss Orchid Foundation at the Jany Renz Herbaria Website

Common Name Weber's Microchilus [original collector of species in Galapogos Islands]

Flower Size .08" [2 mm]

Found in Los Rios province of Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands in shady tropical wet forests at elevations around 220 meters as a miniature to small sized, hot growing terrestrial with a creeping then ascending rhizome giving rise to an erect stem enveloped completely by leaf sheaths carrying spirally arranged, ovate, acute to acuminate, plain green, abruptly narrowing below into the petiolate base leaves that blooms in the fall through winter on an erect, terminal, elongate, glabrous, to 6.4" [16 cm] long overall, rachis to 2" [5 cm] long, loosely to densely, successivly many flowered inflorescence with ovate-lanceolate, acuminate, sparsely puberulent, as long as the ovary floral bracts and carrying small flowers with the sepals sparsely glandular.

"The species can be recognized by the lip form which is up to .14 x .08" [3.5 x 2 mm] , navicular, with the epichile divaricatiely bilobed, with the lateral lobes being subquadrate-lunate, puberulent and reflexed. Overall it is similar to M xeranthum however the lip epichile apiculus is distinct. acute and the spur is oblongoid." Szlachetko & Kolanowska 2017

Synonyms *Erythrodes weberiana Garay 1970

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ;

Orchid Rev. 78: 114 Garay 1970 as Erythrodes weberiana

Icones Plasntarum Tropicarum Plat 104 Dodson 1980 drawing fide;

Lindleyana 17: 223 Ormerod 2002

Materials to the Orchid Flora of Colombia Vol 1: 269 Szlachetko & Kolanowska 2017 drawing fide;

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