Sobralia powellii

Native to Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador

Edited 22 March 2007
© Nina Rach

Original publication: Fedde, Rep. Beih. 17:11, 1922.
Type specimen collected in Panama near Gatun Lake by Powell (Ames Herbarium).

This terrestrial species has large, white, terminal flowers with a golden yellow throat. The stems are erect and cane-like, almost completely enclosed by leaf-sheaths. There is a wide variation of plants which are cultivated under this name, however, and Robert Dressler has published a brief comparison with some photos in his 1998 article in Orchid Digest. See the webpage on white sobralias for some comparative information.

Observed growing in Alajuela (Monteverde) and Limon Provinces of Costa Rica from 500 to 820m elevation; blooming in January, March, May, and June. John Atwood III noted "Epiphyte on tree trunk. Stems woody canes. Flower white; lip with extensive; mustard yellow blotching" [voucher # 9182].

Collected in Panama in 1996, just outside the caldera of El Valle de Anton. Plants to about 1-1.25 meters, with stiff leaves and prominent ridges. Flowers appear at several times throughout the year and last more than two days before fading.

In addition to a yellow throat, flowers of the Colombian variety are said to have a wide, rose-colored margin around the lip.

In Ecuador, Sobralia powellii is found growing both epiphytically and terrestrially in wet montane cloud forest in the provinces of Pichincha, Manabi, El Oro, Canar, and Cotopaxi.
Garay (1978, p. 128) describes the problematic nomenclature for this species: "Sobralia powellii has been reduced to synonomy of S. leucoxantha Rchb.f. by all contemporary students of American orchids. However, an examination of the type of S. leucoxantha clearly indicates that both species are amply distinct, not only in vegetative aspects, but also in size and structure of the flowers. Ironically, most of the true S. leucoxantha specimens in herbaria are filed under S. macra Schltr., which, however, is not a synonym of S. leucoxantha."

From "The Cutting Edge," Volume VIII, Number 4, October 2001, referring to Dressler's publication in Orchids (2001):
"A well-known ornamental Sobralia (Orchidaceae) with golden-lipped flowers, ranging along the Atlantic slope from Nicaragua to central Panama, has long been called either S. leucoxantha Rchb. f. or S. powellii Schltr. The latter name has been established as applying to a rather different sp. of central Panama. Now, examination of the type of S. leucoxantha (one of the two entities alluded to in the title) reveals that this name has also been misapplied; correctly, Sobralia leucoxantha is the oldest name for a more humble sp., of Costa Rica and Panama, heretofore known as S. macra Schltr. The flashier, golden-lipped sp., momentarily nameless, is here formally christened as Sobralia chrysostoma Dressler (the second entity of the title). No specimens are cited other than the type."