Cryptopus dissectus (Bosser) Bosser, Adansonia, n.s., 20: 261 (1980).
Homotypic Synonyms:
Cryptopus elatus subsp. dissectus Bosser, Adansonia, n.s., 5: 407 (1965).
Description:
Epiphyte with stems 30-40 cm long with roars arising along their length. Leaves 3.5-5 x 1-1.5 cm, ovate or oblong, bilobed at the apex. Inflorescence racemose, 30 cm long, 8-11-flawered; peduncle 20 cm long, stiff, sometimes divided into two. Flowers yellowish green. Sepals clawed, spathulate, 11-12 mm long, 4mm wide. Petals clawed, 14-15 mm long, the blade divided into four narrowly oblong lobes 1-2 mm wide, lip 15-17 mm long, four lobed; the two basal lobes falcate, recurved, 6-8 mm long; the two terminal lobes dissected into four narrow lobules, themselves branched at the tip. Spur 12-13mm long, funnel-shaped at the base, then filiform, the apex obtuse. Column stout, 2 mm long, auricles almost square. Anther hemispherical, with a deeply cleft lobe in front.
Notes:
Cryptopus dissectus can be distinguished from Cryptopus elatus by the smaller flowers and the deeply cut terminal lobes of the petals and lip; in Cryptopus elatus these are entire or undulate.
Habitat:
Cryptopus dissectus comes from mid-altitude, humid forest in the Fort-Carnot area of Madagascar, where it grows between 600 and 700 m.
Cultivation:
As given for the genus.
Distribution:
Mascarenes, E. Madagascar
References:
WCSP (2017). 'World Checklist of Selected Plant Families. 25.02-2017; http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/
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