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Phragmipedium boissierianum (Reichenbach fil.) Rolfe

• Described: Reichenbach fil. in Xenia Orchidacea, 1: 3 (1854)
• Transferred: Rolfe in Orchid Review, 4: 332 (1896)
• Etymology: Named for Edmund Boissier, the owner of the holotype.
• Varieties & Forms: Phrag. boissierianum is extremely variable.  I follow McCook (1989, 1998) in that, "I recognize one species because of my observations of developmental variability in the flowers of this taxon."
• Synonyms:
  Phragmopedilum cajamarcae Schlechter in Fedde, Rep. Beiheft 9: 41 (1921)
  Selenipedium czerwiakowianum Reichenbach fil. in Bonplandia, 2: 116 (1854)
  Selenipedium reticulatum Reichenbach fil. in Xenia Orchidaceae, 2: 223 (1874)
• Chromosome Count (Karasawa 1980) :

  2n =	metacentrics	telocentrics	n.f.
  18	18	0	36

• Chromosome Count (Wimber 1983) :

  2n =	metacentrics	telocentrics	n.f.
  18	--	--	--

Plant Habit

• Leaves: 40-100 cm long, 2-5 cm wide, "bases often purple" (McCook 1989)
• Inflorescence: 3-10 flowered, occasionally branching, 35-110 cm long, up to 1 cm in diameter, brown, pilose
• Bloom: margins undulate, becoming more severe as the blooms age
  
• Plant: "rhizomes short and thick; plants closely clumped" (McCook 1989)

  Lindenia plate

Habitat Data

• Distribution - found along the eastern Cordillera of the Andes
  
• Elevation: 400-1500 m
• Peak Flowering in the Wild: year-round
• Ecology: found "most often in open sun on road cuts or rocky slopes, or on the edge of wet forest along roads or streams." (McCook 1989)
• Mean Temperature Range: ?°C
• Light: partial sun
• Medium: ?
• Water: constant moisture

Notes:

• McCook (1989) identifies the 'imperfect' species mentioned in Lindley (1830-40) as Phrag. boissierianum ("23. There is also in Sir W. Hooker's herbarium a scond species, taken by Mathews out of the same collection, but it is too imperfect to be introduced here.").
• The blooms appear to be self-pollinating and capsules are common on herbarium specimens (McCook 1989).

Sources:

• Garay, L.A. 225 (1). Orchidaceae: Cypripedioideae, Orchidoideae, Neottioideae. Flora of Ecuador, vol. 9, 1978.
• Karasawa, K. "Karyomorphological Studies in Phragmipedium, Orchidaceae." Bulletin of the Hiroshima Botanical Garden 3 (Dec 1980): 1-49.
• Linden, J.J., C.L. Linden, and E. Rodigas. "Selenipedium Reticulatum." Lindenia: Iconography of Orchids 1 (1885): Plate 10.
• Lindley, John. The Genera and Species of Orchidaceous Plants. London: Ridgways, Piccadilly, 1830-40.
• McCook, Lucile M. "Systematics of Phragmipedium (Cypripedioideae; Orchidaceae)," Ph.D. dissertation, Cornell University, 1989.
• McCook, Lucile M. "An Annotated Checklist of the Genus Phragmipedium." Orchid Digest special publication (1998): 1-12.
• Wimber, D.E. "Phragmipedium Cytology - I - Diploidy and Polyploidy in the Hybrids." American Orchid Society Bulletin 52, no. 9 (Sep 1983): 933-39.

Primary Hybrids

Primary Hybrids - registered as Phrag. czerwiakowianum

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Page Created By: Stephen Manza
Last Updated: 8-18-06
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