Home

Cynorkis debilis (Hook.f.) Summerh., Bull. Misc. Inform. Kew 1933: 246 (1933).
Homotypic Synonyms:
Habenaria debilis Hook.f., J. Proc. Linn. Soc., Bot. 7: 221 (1864).
Bicornella debilis (Hook.f.) Szlach. & Kras, Richardiana 6: 143 (2006).
Heterotypic Synonyms:
Cynorkis hanningtonii Rolfe in D.Oliver & auct. suc. (eds.), Fl. Trop. Afr. 7: 261 (1898).
Cynorkis johnsonii Rolfe in D.Oliver & auct. suc. (eds.), Fl. Trop. Afr. 7: 261 (1898).
Cynorkis lisowskii Szlach., Fragm. Florist. Geobot. 39: 29 (1994).
Bicornella hanningtonii (Rolfe) Szlach. & Kras, Richardiana 6: 144 (2006).
Bicornella lisowskii (Szlach.) Szlach. & Kras, Richardiana 6: 145 (2006).
Description:
Tubers 1-3, 5.5-7.5 mm long, 1.6-3.5 mm in diameter, digitiform to ovoid-oblong, thick, fleshy. Stem 10-27 cm tall, erect except the arcuate base, delicate, glandular above the leaves. Cauline bracts up to 10, up to 3.5 cm long. Leaves 2, basal, spread, petiolate; petiole up to 3 cm long, narrow; blade 7-15 cm long, 1.5-3 cm wide, lanceolate, oblanceolate to ovate, slightly asymmetric, acute to acuminate, silvery or purplish below. Inflorescence 2-8 cm long, ca. 10-flowered, dense. Flowers white, often with purple tinged or spots on the lip. Floral bracts 3-4 mm long. Pedicel and ovary 7 mm long, sparsely glandular. Dorsal sepal 3.5 mm long, 2 mm wide, elliptic-ovate, obtuse, concave. Petals 2.25-3 mm long, 1 mm wide, falcate-oblong, obtuse. Lateral sepals 3.25-5 mm long, up to 2.2 mm wide, obliquely obovate, subobtuse. Lip ca. 5 mm long in total, minutely papillate, 5-lobed; the middle lobe up to 2 mm long, 1 mm wide, oblong-triangular, tapering from the base to the apex; lateral lobes 1.1-1.3 mm long, up to 0.5 mm wide, obliquely oblong-lanceolate, subacute; basal lobes a little shorter than laterals, triangular, acute. Spur up to 3 mm long, cylindrical-conical, tapering to the apex, subacute.
Habitat:
Submontane forests. Terrestrial or epiphytic on large, mossy-covered branches or at the base of a tree trunk. August-November.
Notes:
It is related to Cynorkis hanningtonii Rolfe, from which it differs in the shape of the lip middle lobe.
Cultivation:
As given for the genus, warm to cool growing terrestrial.
Distribution:
Nigeria, Cameroon, Sao Tomé and Príncipe (Sâo Tomé), Equatorial Guinea (Río Muni, Bioko), Angola. Alt. 900-2600 m.
References:
Orchidaceae of West-central Africa, vol. 1, Gdansk University Press Gdansk 2010; Flora of Tropical East Africa Orchidaceae Part 1 Summerhayes 1968; Flora Zambesiaca Volume 11 Part 1 Pope 1995
Images:
Click on each image to see a larger version.

Habitat/In situ	Habitat/In situ	Habitat/In situ	Habitat/In situ
Photograph© Nicholas Case Wightman Image used with kind permission.	Photograph© Nicholas Case Wightman Image used with kind permission.	Photograph© Nicholas Case Wightman Image used with kind permission.	Photograph© Nicholas Case Wightman Image used with kind permission.