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Phragmipedium lindenii (Lindley) Dressler & Williams

• Described: Lindley in Orchidaceae Lindenianae, 28 (1846)
• Transferred: Dressler & N.H. Williams in Taxon 24: 691 (1975)
• Etymology: Named for John Linden, who discovered the species near the Colombia-Venezuela border in the vicinity of Lake Maracaibo in 1843.
• Varieties & Forms: none
• Synonyms: none
• Chromosome Count (Karasawa 1980):

  2n =	metacentrics	telocentrics	n.f.
  28	8	20	36

• Chromosome Count (Wimber 1983):

  2n =	metacentrics	telocentrics	n.f.
  28	--	--	--

Plant Habit

• Leaves: 25-40 cm long, 2-5 cm wide, coriaceous
• Inflorescence: 2-4 flowered, green, pilose
• Bloom: similar to that of Phrag. caudatum var. wallisii but for: (i) the staminode has been modified to include a third anther and (ii) the saccate labellum (slipper) has been replaced with a third very long petal
  
• Plant:
  

Habitat Data

• Distribution: I am unsure of the presence of Phrag. lindenii in central and southern Colombia 
  
• Elevation: 1400-2100 m
• Peak Flowering in the Wild: March-November
• Ecology: found in grasslands amongst thickets and ferns, in lava fields and on road embankments and other disturbed sites
• Mean Temperature Range: 19-21°C
• Light: light to moderate shade
• Medium: ?
• Water: constant moisture

Notes:

• Phrag. lindenii is, "the only cypripedioid that produces a third functional pollinarium. It is this third pollinium that contacts the stigmatic surface before the flower even opens, guaranteeing self-pollination. In the populations of P. lindenii that I have seen and in the greenhouse, virtually every flower sets fruit and produces seed due to the efficiency of this mechanism." (McCook 1990)

Sources:

• Dunsterville, G.C.K. "Orchids of Venezuela, New Names for Old." American Orchid Society Bulletin 50, no. 3 (Mar 1980): 223-27.
• Karasawa, K. "Karyomorphological Studies in Phragmipedium, Orchidaceae." Bulletin of the Hiroshima Botanical Garden 3 (Dec 1980): 1-49.
• Linden, J. "Uropedium Lindenii." Pescatorea Inst. 1 (1860): 12-16.
• McCook, Lucile M. "Systematics of Phragmipedium (Cypripedioideae; Orchidaceae)," Ph.D. dissertation, Cornell University, 1989.
• McCook, L.M. "The Genus Phragmipedium - Part II." American Orchid Society Bulletin 59, no. 2 (Feb 1990): 153-58.
• Rolfe, R.A. "Selenipedium Caudatum var. Uropedium subvar. Delicatum." Lindenia: Iconography of Orchids 7 (1891): Plate 321.
• 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

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Last Updated: 10-5-06
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