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Compilation
Polystachya malilaensis

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Polystachya malilaensis Schltr. from Malawi
Type of Polystachya malilaensis Schltr. [family ORCHIDACEAE]
Polystachya malilaensis Schltr.
Isolectotype of Polystachya malilaensis Schltr. [family ORCHIDACEAE]
Type? of Polystachya malilaensis Schlechter [family ORCHIDACEAE]
Isotype of Polystachya malilaensis Schltr. [family ORCHIDACEAE]
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Name

Identification
Polystachya malilaensis Schltr. [family ORCHIDACEAE ]
Related name
  • Polystachya malilaensis

Flora

Entry for Polystachya malilaensis Schltr. [family ORCHIDACEAE]
Herbarium
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (K)
Collection
Flora Zambesiaca
Resource Type
Reference Sources
Entry From
FZ, Vol 11, Part 2, (1998) Author: I. la Croix & P.J. Cribb
Names
Polystachya zambesiaca var. malilaensis Schltr. Geerinck [family ORCHIDACEAE], in Fl. Afr. Centr., Orchidaceae pt. 2: 427 (1992).
Polystachya malilaensis Schltr. [family ORCHIDACEAE], in Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 53: 566 (1915). —Morris, Epiphyt. Orch. Malawi: 61 (1970), pro parte. —Williamson, Orch. S. Centr. Africa: 124, fig. 64/18 (1977). —Cribb in F.T.E.A., Orchidaceae: 398 (1984). —la Croix et al., Orch. Malawi: 230 (1991). Type from Tanzania.
Information
Small epiphytic, occasionally lithophytic, herb.Pseudobulbs 10–20 × 7–8 mm, ovate to conical, green or reddish, 2–3-leaved.Leaves 4–12 × 1–1.5 cm, lanceolate, oblong-lanceolate or oblanceolate, often purple-tinged or with a purple line around the edge.Inflorescence (floral axis) to 15 cm long, fairly densely up to c. 20-flowered.Peduncle, pedicel, ovary and bracts all minutely pubescent.Pedicel and ovary c. 7 mm long; bracts 7–14 mm long, ovate, acuminate.Sepals and petals yellowish or yellow-brown, tinged with purple, becoming deep orange-brown as the flowers age; lip white with purple spotting on the side lobes and centre of mid-lobe.Sepals sparsely pubescent; dorsal sepal 9–12 × 2–4 mm, lanceolate, acuminate; lateral sepals 9–13.5 × 5.5–7 mm, obliquely lanceolate, somewhat falcate, long acuminate, keeled on the outside; mentum conical, 4.5–5 mm high.Petals 6.5–7.5 × 0.5–2 mm, narrowly oblanceolate.Lip strongly recurved, hard to flatten, 9–11 × 5 mm, 3-lobed with a long claw; mid-lobe 5.5–6 × 2–4 mm, oblong-lanceolate, acuminate, fleshy, bullate; side lobes erect, with a fleshy somewhat papillose callus lying between them.Column 1 mm long.
Habitat
Montane evergreen forest and high-rainfall woodland, on trees and rocks
Altitude range
1200–2285 m.
2285
1200
Distribution
Zambia N Mbala Distr., rocks c. 10 km from Kawimbe, 1680 m, fl. 17.xii.1956, Richards 7300 (K).Zimbabwe E Mutare, 1200 m, fl. 25.x.1949, Chase in GHS 25390 (K; SRGH); Nyanga (Inyanga), Leygate's Cottage, 5 km north of Troutbeck, fl. 9.xii.1961, Ball 972 (K; SRGH).Malawi N South Viphya, Chikangawa–Mzuzu road, near Luwafwa Drift, epiphytic on Erythrina abyssinica, 1550 m, fl. 12.i.1986, la Croix 770 (K).Malawi C Dedza Mt., on trees just below peak, 2200 m, fl. 4.i.1981, la Croix 83 (K).
Distribution (external)
Zaire
Tanzania
Notes
la Croix 892 (K) [Malawi, South Viphya, Mtangatanga Forest Reserve, fl. 29.xi.1986] is possibly a hybrid between Polystachya malilaensis and P. villosa, with flowers intermediate in appearance between those of the parents.

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