Native to Central and South America
Edited 18 May 2007
© Nina Rach
Originally published as Corymbis by Thouars in 1822, then later as Corymborchis in Orch. Ind. Arch. 125 (1855).
Corymborchis is a small genus of very primitive terrestrial orchids like Xerorchis, Palmorchis, and Psilochilus, related to Sobralia. There are 8 species described in literature that range from Central America (Panamá, Costa Rica) to Colombia and Equador. The leaves are alternating and plicate on upright stems.
Corymborchis flava, pictured at left, is native to southern Brazil (Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina states). Photos at left by Roberto Takase, São Paulo, Brazil.
The species is also found in Ecuador. We saw hundreds of these plants blooming in February 2004, at high altitude in the vicinity of Podocarpus National Park, in the southern Ecuadoran Andes.
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The species: (all published names; some invalid)
__ Acuna (1939) "Corymborchis cubensis," in: Bol. Estac. Exper. Agron., Santiago (Cuba), No. 60 (Cat. Descr. Orquid. Cub.) 51. [Mexico, Central America]
__ Acuna (1940) "Corymborchis cubensis," in: Correll in Bot. Mus. Leafl. Harvard Univ. viii. 125, latine.
Oakes Ames (1915) "Corymborchis confusa," in: Orchid. v. 48. [see Corymbis disticha, Naves, Nov. App. 218 (1880), non Lindl.]
Moisés Behar and Otto Tinschert (1998) Guatemala y sus Orquideas/Guatemala and its Orchids. Guatemala Ciudad: MayaPrin/Trade Litho, 240 págs. [Book with CD]
Moisés Behar and Otto Tinschert (1998) Guatemala y sus Orquideas/Guatemala and its Orchids. Guatemala City: Bancafé, Edición bilingüe español-inglés, contiene CD ROM. [CD sold separately]
Carl (Karl) Ludwig von Blume (18--) as Corymbis assamica, in: Orchid. Archip. Ind. 126. t. 43.
Margaret A. Dix and Michael W. Dix (2000) Orchids of Guatemala: A Revised Annotated Checklist. St. Louis: Missouri Botanical Garden Press, 61 p. [Corymborchis flava, forcipigera]
F.M. Dourado (1976) "Corymborchis veratrifolia," in: Orchid Digest 40(1): 12-13. [color illustrations]
___ (1855) in: Orch. Ind. Arch. 125.
Ernesto Foldats (1959) "Corymborchis galipanensis (Rchb.f.)," in: Acta Biol. Venez. ii. (Contrib. Orquid. Venez.) 400. [Macrostylis galipanensis]
William Botting Hemsley (18--) as "Corymbis flava," in: Biol. Contr. Am. Bot. iii. 297. [Mexico]
___ Holttum (1953) "Corymborchis brevistylis (Hook.f.) Holttum," in: Rev. Fl. Malaya i. 144.
Heinrich Gustav Reichenbach (1865) "Corymbis veratrifolia," in: Flora oder Allgemeine Botanische Zeitung 48.
Heinrich Gustav Reichenbach (1865) "Corymbis welwitschii," in: Flora, 183.
J.J. Smith (1927) "Corymborchis angustissima," in: Bull. Jard. Bot. Buitenz. Ser. III. ix. 37.
Louis Marie Aubert du Petit Thouars (1822) [as Corymbis], in: Orch. Iles Afr. t. 37, 38.
L.O. Williams (1939) "Corymborchis decumbens (Lindl.)," in: Lilloa v. 9. [Chloidia decumbens]
L.O. Williams (1946) "Corymborchis forcipigera (Rchb.f.)," in: Bot. Mus. Leafl. Harvard Univ. xii. 237. [Macrostylis forcipigera]
ING: Index Nominum Genericorum, URL:
http://rathbun.si.edu/botany/ing/ from the U.S. National Herbarium, Dept. of Systematic Biology - Botany, Smithsonian Institution
International Plant Names Index [IPNI],
www.ipni.org
