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Phragmipedium caudatum (Lindley) Rolfe

• Basionym: Cypripedium caudatum Lindley in Genera and Species of Orchidaceous Plants, 531 (1840)
• Latin Diagnosis: C. sepalis oblong-lanceolatis acuminatis extos pubescentibus, petalis lanceolatis extus pubescentibus in acumen longissimum caudiforme productis, labelli ore hirsuto.
• Original Description: "I have only seen one mutilated flower of this extraordinary plant, obtained at Lima, from an herbarium of Ruiz and Pavon, and sent by Mathews to Sir W. Hooker. The petals are nearly 8 inches long, while the sepals are about 5 inches long."
• Transferred: Rolfe in Orchid Review, 4: 332 (1896)
• Etymology: Named for the extremely long petals of its blooms (caudate, adj. - having a tail or taillike appendage).
• Varieties & Forms: The status of the various long-petalled taxa is not clear.  I initially decided to treat the five distinct taxa as varieties of a single species, but the differences in morphology and geographic distribution I have found while researching the genus have led me to accept three species and two varieties.  The question surrounding these taxa is usually at which rank to place each one rather than whether or not separation is justified.  I will at some point summarize the taxonomic quagmire surrounding the long-petalled phrags in a separate page.  For now, I have decided to classify two of the taxa as varieties of Phrag. caudatum:
  Phragmipedium caudatum var. exstaminodium (Castano, Hagsater, & Aguirre in Orquidea (Mexico), 9(29): 19 (1984)) <combination not made>
  Phragmipedium caudatum var. warszewiczii (Dressler in Orchid Digest, 69(2): 89 (2005)) <combination not made>
• Synonyms:
  Cypripedium humboldtii Warscewicz ex Reichenbach fil. in Botanische Zeitung, 10: 691 (1852)
• Chromosome Count - according to Karasawa (1980)

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

• Chromosome Count - according to Wimber (1983)

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

Plant Habit

• Leaves: 15-60 cm long, 2-6 cm wide, light green with pale green margins
• Inflorescence: 2-4 flowered, opening nearly simultaneously, 30-60 cm, light green, lacking sterile bracts
• Bloom: greenish yellow with darker greenish-brown suffusion, petals up to 80 cm long
  
• Plant:
  

Habitat Data

• Distribution -
  
• Elevation: 1000-2100 m
• Peak Flowering in the Wild: February-September
• Ecology: found in a variety of habitats, as both an epiphyte and a terrestrial
• Mean Temperature Range: 20-22 °C
• Light: light to moderate shade
• Medium: varied
• Water: constant moisture

Notes:

• Although I've found lots of hearsay on the habitat conditions of this species in the Peruvian Andes, I don't have many original sources.  Consequently, I can't yet provide any detailed habitat info.

Sources:

• Hooker, W.J. "Cypripedium Caudatum." Icones Plantarum; or Figures with Brief Descriptive Characters and Remarks of New or Rare Plants 7 (1844): Tab. 658-59.
• Karasawa, K. "Karyomorphological Studies in Phragmipedium, Orchidaceae." Bulletin of the Hiroshima Botanical Garden 3 (Dec 1980): 1-49.
• Linden, J. "Selenipedium Caudatum." Pescatorea Inst. 6 (1860): 84-86.
• Linden, J.J., C.L. Linden, and E. Rodigas. "Selenipedium Caudatum Giganteum." Lindenia: Iconography of Orchids 2 (1886): Plate 96.
• Linden, J.J., C.L. Linden, and E. Rodigas. "Selenipedium (Cypripedium) Caudatum var. Albertianum." Lindenia: Iconography of Orchids 4 (1888): Plate 174.
• 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, L.M. "The Genus Phragmipedium - Part II." American Orchid Society Bulletin 59, no. 2 (Feb 1990): 153-58.
• Veitch, JH. Hortus Veitchii. London: James Veitch & Sons, Ltd.; 1906.
• Warner, R. "Cypripedium Caudatum." Select Orchidaceous Plants Series 2 (1865-75): Pl. 1.
• Wimber, D.E. "Phragmipedium Cytology - I - Diploidy and Polyploidy in the Hybrids." American Orchid Society Bulletin 52, no. 9 (Sep 1983): 933-39.
• Williams, L.O. "Flora of Panama. Part III. Fascicle II." Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden 33, no. 1 (Feb 1946): 1-140.
• Woodson, R.E. Jr., R.J. Seibert, and P.H. Allen. "Contributions Toward a Flora of Panama. III. Collections During the Summer of 1938, Chiefly by R.E. Woodson, Hr., P.H. Allen, and R.J. Seibert." Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden 26, no. 4 (Nov 1939): 265-324.

Primary Hybrids

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Page Created By: Stephen Manza
Last Updated: 10-5-06
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