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Tridactyle bicaudata (Lindl.) Schltr., Orchideen: 602 (1914).
Homotypic Synonyms:
Angraecum bicaudatum Lindl., Companion Bot. Mag. 2: 205 (1837).
Angorchis bicaudata (Lindl.) Kuntze, Revis. Gen. Pl. 2: 651 (1891).
Listrostachys bicaudata (Lindl.) Finet, Bull. Soc. Bot. France 54(9): 51 (1907).
Description:
Stems woody, to 80 cm long, erect or pendent; roots 4-5 mm in diameter, smooth or very slightly warty. Leaves very variable in size and shape; in exposed situations they are usually 6 x 1 cm, V-shaped in cross section and almost succulent, while in shade they are longer and laxer, and almost flat, to 14 x 1.5 cm. Inflorescences borne along the stem, to 13 cm long, to 20-flowered, the flowers in two rows and all facing the same way. Flowers yellowish, 1 cm in diameter. Pedicel and ovary 2-3 cm long; bracts sheathing, 1-2 mm long. Dorsal sepal 4-6 x 2-3 mm, ovate, acute; lateral sepals 5-6 x 2.5-3.5 mm, obliquely ovate, acute. Petals 4-6 x 1-2 mm, linear. Lip 4-6 mm long with triangular auricles at the base, trilobed at about halfway; midlobe 2-2.5 mm long, narrowly triangular; side lobes 3-6 mm long, spreading, fringed at the apex. Spur 1-2 cm long, parallel to the ovary. Column 1 mm lang.
Habitat:
Epiphytic or lithophytic inside or outside forest and woodland, to 2500 m.
Cultivation:
This species is best accommodated in a basket, in a coarse mix, in light to moderate shade, at intermediate temperatures.
Notes:
H. P. Linder has separated a lithophytic form that grows along the South African coast as subsp. rupestris Linder, but similar farms occur in tropical Africa and seem to be ecological variants.
A key to the subspecies Tridactyle bicaudata
References:
Encyclopedia of Cultivated Orchids Hawkes 1965; Orchids of East Africa Piers 1968; The Orchids of South Central Africa Williamson 1977; Wild Orchids of Southern Africa Stewart, Linder, Schelpe & Hall 1982; AOS Bulletin Vol 53 No 9 1984; Flora of Tropical East Africa Orchidaceae Part 3 Cribb 1989; African Orchids in the Wild and Cultivation La Croix 1997; Flora Zambesiaca Vol 11 Part 2 Pope 1998; Field Guide to the Ethiopian Orchids Demissew, Cribb & Rasmussen 2004; Angraecoid Orchids Stewart, Hermans, Campbell 2006; Field Guide to the Orchids of Northern South Africa and Swaziland McMurty, Grobler, Grobler & Burns 2008; World Checklist of Monocotyledons. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published on the Internet; http://www.kew.org/wcsp/monocots/ accessed 21.03.2017
Images:
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Photograph©Bart Wursten. Image used with kind permission.	Photograph©Bart Wursten. Image used with kind permission.	Photograph©Bart Wursten. Image used with kind permission..	Photograph© Cameron McMaster. Image used with kind permission.	Photograph© Cameron McMaster. Image used with kind permission.	Photograph© Cameron McMaster. Image used with kind permission.