Eulophia maculata (Lindl.) Rchb.f. in W.G.Walpers, Ann. Bot. Syst. 6: 647 (1863).
Homotypic Names:
Angraecum maculatum Lindl., Coll. Bot.: t. 15 (1821).
Limodorum maculatum (Lindl.) G.Lodd., Bot. Cab. 5: t. 496 (1821).
Aerobion maculatum (Lindl.) Spreng., Syst. Veg. ed. 16, 3: 718 (1826).
Oeceoclades maculata (Lindl.) Lindl., Gen. Sp. Orchid. Pl.: 237 (1833).
Eulophidium maculatum (Lindl.) Pfitzer, Entwurf. Anordn. Orch.: 87 (1887).
Graphorkis maculata (Lindl.) Kuntze, Revis. Gen. Pl. 2: 662 (1891).
Heterotypic Synonyms:
Angraecum monophyllum A.Rich., Mém. Soc. Hist. Nat. Paris 4: 58 (1828).
Epidendrum connivens Vell., Fl. Flumin. 9: t. 44 (1831).
Geodorum pictum Link in J.H.F.Link, J.F.Klotzsch & C.F.Otto, Icon. Pl. Rar. 1: 14 (1840), nom. illeg.
Eulophia monophylla (A.Rich.) S.Moore in J.G.Baker, Fl. Mauritius: 360 (1877).
Eulophia ledienii Stein ex N.E.Br., Bull. Misc. Inform. Kew 1889: 90 (1889), orth. var.
Eulophia liedenii N.E.Br., Bull. Misc. Inform. Kew 1889: 90 (1889).
Eulophia mackenii Rolfe ex Hemsl., Gard. Chron., ser. 3, 12: 583 (1892).
Eulophidium warneckeanum Kraenzl., Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 33: 70 (1902).
Eulophidium liedenii (N.E.Br.) De Wild., Ann. Mus. Congo Belge, Bot., sér. 5, 1: 115 (1903).
Eulophidium mackenii (Rolfe ex Hemsl.) Schltr., Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 53: 593 (1915).
Eulophidium monophyllum (A.Rich.) Schltr., Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 53: 593 (1915).
Eulophidium nyassanum Schltr., Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 53: 593 (1915).
Eulophidium maculatum var. pterocarpum Hauman, Anales Mus. Nac. Hist. Nat. Buenos Aires 29: 381 (1917).
Oeceoclades paraguayensis Hauman, Anales Mus. Nac. Hist. Nat. Buenos Aires 1917: 29 (1917), nom. nud.
Oeceoclades mackenii (Rolfe ex Hemsl.) Garay & P.Taylor, Bot. Mus. Leafl. 24: 265 (1976).
Oeceoclades maculata var. pterocarpa (Hauman) Garay & P.Taylor, Bot. Mus. Leafl. 24: 267 (1976).
Oeceoclades monophylla (A.Rich.) Garay & P.Taylor, Bot. Mus. Leafl. 24: 267 (1976).
Description:
Pseudobulb/stem:
0.8-1.6 in. (2-4 cm) long. The egg-shaped to cylindrical pseudobulbs are slightly compressed and are often covered with scarious bracts.
Leaves:
3-12 in. (8-30 cm) long by 0.6-2.0 in. (1.5-5.0 cm) wide. A single leathery, somewhat succulent leaf is carried at the apex of the pseudobulb. It is oblong-lanceolate to elliptical, has a sharply pointed tip, and narrows to a longitudinally folded petiole at the base that is 0.4-3.1 in. (1-8 cm) long. Leaves are dark green with paler green and whitish mottling and banding and are persistent for several seasons.
Inflorescence:
2-12 in. (5-30 cm) long. The erect scape is usually simple but may sometimes have 1-2 short branches. The flowers are carried in a raceme and have an inconspicuous floral bract that is linear-lanceolate and is shorter than the ovary. Each blossom is carried on a slender pedicellate ovary that is 0.3-0.6 in. (0.7-1.5 cm) long.
Flowers:
6-20 per inflorescence. The flowers open in succession and have sepals that are cream or greenish pink or pinkish brown and petals that are pink or sometimes all straw-colored. The lip is greenish white with a pink blotch on each side near the middle, and the lateral lobes are marked with red-purple veins. The spur usually is brownish, and the callus and column are white. The erect dorsal sepal is linear-elliptic, bluntly to sharply pointed, and 0.4-0.5 in. (1.0-1.2 cm) long by 0.08-0.1 in. (0.2-0.3 cm) wide. The obliquely descending lateral sepals are linear-elliptic, rather bluntly pointed, slightly sickle-shaped by curving downward somewhat along their length, and are a little shorter than the dorsal sepal. The more or less erect petals are oblong-elliptic, sharply pointed, are wider than the sepals, and are slightly divergent with inner margins that overlap toward the base and separate toward the apex, concealing most of the dorsal sepal except for its apical portion. The 3-lobed lip is 0.3-0.4 in. (0.7-1.0 cm) long and wide when flattened. In its natural position, however, the lateral lobes are held in erect positions on each side of the column. The broadly egg-shaped midlobe is 0.1-0.2 in. (0.3-0.4 cm) long by 0.3 in. (0.7-0.8 cm) wide with a somewhat ruffled margin and a notch in the center of the apical margin. The spur at the base of the lip is long, straight, swollen at the apex, and 0.2 in. (0.4-0.5 cm) long. The erect column is also 0.2 in. (0.4-0.5 cm) long.
Habitat:
In Kenya, plants are found in leaf-mold in shady forests and rocky scrub near the sea from near sea level to about 1000 ft. (300 m). In other parts of Africa, however, la Croix & la Croix (1997) reported plants growing at elevations as high as 3950 ft. (1200 m).
Notes:
In the habitat in Kenya in equatorial east Africa, plants bloom February-May.
Cultivation:
Read more of cultivation of Eulophia maculata (Lindl.) Rchb.f.
Distribution:
Africa
References:
Ackerman, J. 1995. An orchid flora of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. The New York Botanical Garden. Gloudon, A. and C. Tobisch. 1995. Orchids of Jamaica. The Press, University of the West Indies, 1A Aqueduct Flats, Mona Campus, Kingston, Jamaica, W1. Hamilton, R. 1988. When does it flower? 2nd ed. Robert M. Hamilton, 9211 Beckwith Road, Richmond, B. C., Canada V6X 1V7. Hawkes, A. (1965) 1987. Encyclopaedia of cultivated orchids. Faber and Faber, London. la Croix, I. and E. la Croix. 1997. African orchids in the wild and in cultivation. Timber Press, Portland, OR. Stewart, J. and B. Campbell. 1996. Orchids of Kenya. Timber Press, Portland, OR.; Expansion of the orchid genus Eulophia (Eulophiinae; Epidendroideae) to include Acrolophia, Cymbidiella, Eulophiella, Geodorum, Oeceoclades and Paralophia by Mark W. Chase, André Schuiteman & Pankaj Kumar. Phytotaxa 491 (1); POWO (2022). "Plants of the World Online. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published on the Internet; http://www.plantsoftheworldonline.org/ Retrieved 26 November 2022."
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