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Compilation
Polystachya zambesiaca

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Polystachya zambesiaca Rolfe [family ORCHIDACEAE]
Polystachya zambesiaca Rolfe
Isotype of Polystachya phirii W.Fibeck [family ORCHIDACEAE]
Type of Polystachya malilaensis Schltr. [family ORCHIDACEAE]
Polystachya zambesiaca Rolfe [family ORCHIDACEAE]
Polystachya zambesiaca Rolfe [family ORCHIDACEAE]
Isotype of Polystachya zambesiaca Rolfe [family ORCHIDACEAE]
Filed as Polystachya zambesiaca Rolfe [family ORCHIDACEAE]
Isotype of Polystachya malilaensis Schltr. [family ORCHIDACEAE]
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Name

Identification
Polystachya zambesiaca Rolfe [family ORCHIDACEAE ]
Related name
  • Polystachya zambesiaca

Flora

Entry for Polystachya zambesiaca Rolfe [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 Rolfe [family ORCHIDACEAE], in Bull. Misc. Inform., Kew 1895: 192 (1895); in F.T.A. 7: 124 (1897). —Summerhayes in Bot. Not. 1937: 192 (1937); in Kew Bull. 2: 128 (1948), excl. syn. —Morris, Epiphyt. Orch. Malawi: 65 (1970). —Harrison, Epiphyt. Orch. South. Africa: 29 (1972). —Grosvenor in Excelsa 6: 85 (1976). —Williamson, Orch. S. Centr. Africa: 122 (1977). —Ball, South. African Epiphyt. Orch.: 180 (1978). —Stewart et al., Wild Orch. South. Africa: 227 (1982). —Cribb in F.T.E.A., Orchidaceae: 399 (1984). —la Croix et al., Orch. Malawi: 232 (1991). —Geerinck in Fl. Afr. Centr., Orchidaceae pt. 2: 426 (1992). Type: Malawi, Buchanan s.n. (K, holotype).
Polystachya hislopii Rolfe [family ORCHIDACEAE], in Bull. Misc. Inform., Kew 1914: 375 (1914). Type: Zimbabwe, Hislop s.n. (K, holotype).
Polystachya lawrenceana var. hislopii Rolfe Kraenzl. [family ORCHIDACEAE], in Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. Beih. 39: 86 (1926).
Information
Small epiphytic or lithophytic herb, forming clumps.Pseudobulbs 2.5–9 × 0.7–1.2 cm, ellipsoid or ellipsoid-oblong, somewhat compressed, 2–3-leaved.Leaves 3–8 × 0.6–1.4 cm, oblong or oblong-lanceolate, ± obtuse, conduplicate at the base, glaucous green, often purple-edged, fully developed by flowering time.Inflorescence (floral axis) 5–8 cm long, 4–8-flowered, the peduncle and rhachis pubescent.Pedicel and ovary 7–10 mm long, slender, pubescent; bracts 4–6 × 4–5 mm, rhomboid-ovate, acuminate, ± papery, pubescent, whitish.Flowers pubescent on the outside, sepals and petals greenish-yellow, lemon-yellow to buff, drying yellow, lip white with purple veins on the side lobes and a brown spot at the base of the column foot.Dorsal sepal 7–8 × 3.2–4.3 mm, ovate; lateral sepals 8–10 × 4–5 mm, triangular-ovate, acute, keeled on the outside, forming a mentum 3.5–4 mm long.Petals 5.5–6.5 × 1 mm, oblanceolate, incurved.Lip very fleshy, geniculate and hard to flatten, 5.5–6.5 × 4–4.5 mm, 3-lobed at about halfway, with a callus at the junction of the lobes, the callus fleshy and densely covered with papillose hairs, the hairs reaching the base of the lip; mid-lobe 3–5 × 2.5–3.5 mm, ovate, acute, rugulose; side lobes erect, rounded.Column 1.5 mm long.
Habitat
Rocky outcrops and isolated mountains rising steeply from the surrounding plains, epiphytic in Brachystegia woodland, sometimes lithophytic
Altitude range
900–1700 m.
1700
900
Distribution
Malawi C Dedza Distr., Chongoni Forest Reserve, fl. 18.x.1967, Salubeni 854 (K; SRGH).Mozambique MS Gorongosa, Mt. Gogogo, 1500 m, fl. 7.xi.1956, Gomes e Sousa 4341 (K).Zimbabwe E Mutare Distr., Vumba, fl. 20.x.1975, Ball 1364 (K; SRGH).Zimbabwe S Mberengwa Distr., Mt. Buhwa (Bukwa), c. 1600 m, fl. 30.x.1973, Pope, Biegel & Gosden 1122 (K; SRGH).Malawi S Mulanje Mt., SE slopes, 1300 m, fl. 18.xi.1982, la Croix 360 (K).Zambia E Chipira Hill, near Chadiza, 900 m, fl. 29.xi.1958, Robson 781 (K).Zimbabwe C Makoni, on vertical rock faces, fl. 20.xi.1972, Grosvenor 773 (K; SRGH).
Distribution (external)
southern Tanzania
Notes
Some Zimbabwean plants (for example Grosvenor 773) are larger and more robust than is typical for this species, but they resemble P. zambesiaca more closely than they do anything else and are not sufficiently distinct to warrant recognition as a separate species.

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