Tridactyle cruciformis Summerh., Kew Bull. 3: 293 (1948).
Description:
Plants usually pendent in large masses, with veriucose roots, and with slender woody stems to 60 cm long, usually upturned at the apex. Leaves grass-like, linear, unequally and acutely bilobed, 7-23 cm long, 1-2.5 mm wide, glossy green. Inflorescences 2-5 cm long, 5- to 9-flowered. Flowers pale green or greenish yellow, browning with age; dorsal sepal ovate-elliptic, obtuse, 2-3 mm long, 1.5 mm wide; lateral sepals similar but slightly longer; petals linear, acute or obtuse, 2-3 mm long, 0.5-1 mm wide; lip strongly 3-lobed at the middle, side lobes spreading, narrower than the mid-lobe, acute, 2—2.5 mm long, 1.8—3 mm wide; spur slender, incurved, 11-13 mm long.
Habitat:
Epiphyte in upland rainforest patches on hills; 600-2200 m; flowering in December and January.
Cultivation:
As given for the genus.
Distribution:
Kenya to NE. Tanzania
References:
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:
Click on each image to see a larger version.
| Habitat/In situ |
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| Photograph© E.Tanner. Swiss Orchid Foundation at the Herbarium Jany Renz Image used with kind permission. |
