Native to Colombia and Venezuela
Edited 13 April 2007
Text © Nina Rach
Original publication in the Gardeners Chronicle n.s.7:72, 1877.
Flowers of this species are large (5-7 cm natural spread) and are variable pink to reddish brown with a broad, spatulate lip that partially encloses the white column. The apex of the lip is approximately 3-4 cm horizontal, with a wavy to slightly fimbriate margin. There are 5-7 narrow calli on the lip. The flowers develop from short, branched inflorescenses that arise axially along the stems (from the top of the leaf axils). A similar species with brown flowers is Sobralia caloglossa Schlechter.
Photos at left and right by Guillermo Angulo, Tegualda Gardens, Colombia.
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[image of a stamp issued by Venezuela, 1993;
face value 100 Bolivares; on a sheet of 10 different orchids.]
Printed References:
Rodrigo Escobar R. , ed. (1992) Native Colombian Orchids, Volume 4: Porroglossum - Zygosepalum. Medellin. [color photo]
Galfrid C.K. Dunsterville (28 Aug 1987) Venezuelan Orchids. Caracas: Graficas Armitano, C.A. 127p.; English edition 1000 copies. [text and color photos of Sob. cattleya, Sob. infundibuligera, Sob. ruckeri, Sob. violacea]
G.C.K. Dunsterville and Leslie A. Garay (1972) Venezuelan Orchids Illustrated, Volume 5. [Text and line drawing of Sob. cattleya]
G.C.K. Dunsterville and Leslie A. Garay (1979) Orchids of Venezuela, An Illustrated Field Guide, p. 929. Boston: Botanical Museum of Harvard University, three white volumes, soft cover in a black slip case. [excellent line drawings of Sob. candida; cattleya; ciliata; fimbriata; fragrans; infundibuligera; liliastrum; macrophylla; paradisiaca; ruckeri; sessilis; speciosa; stenophylla; suaveolens; valida; violacea; yauaperyensis].
Gustavo A. Romero-Gonzalez and German Carnevali Fernandez-Concha (15 July 2000) Orchid of Venezuela, An Illustrated Field Guide, Second Edition. Caracas: Armitano Editores, C.A., p. 979. [same drawing as in original field guide by Dunsterville & Garay]
Online References:
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
