Ponthieva racemosa (Walter) C.Mohr
-
Authority
Acevedo-Rodríguez, Pedro & collaborators. 1996. Flora of St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 78: 1-581.
-
Family
Orchidaceae
-
Scientific Name
-
Description
Species Description - Terrestrial herb, 30-60 cm tall; roots fasciculate, fleshy, villous, 2-3 mm thick. Leaves mostly basal, 2-6; blades 5-11 x 2- 5 cm, delicate, elliptic to oblanceolate, rounded to acute; petioles to 6 cm long. Flowers greenish to greenish white, nonresupinate, loosely arranged in glandular pubescent racemes 5-25 cm long on scapes to 25 cm long; floral bracts pubescent, linear-lanceolate, clasping base of ovary, to 10 mm long. Perianth spreading; sepals adaxially pubescent; dorsal sepal free, ovate-elliptic to ellipticlanceolate, obtuse, 4-7 x 2-3 mm; lateral sepals broadly and obliquely ovate, acute to obtuse, 4.3-8 x 2.5-4 mm; petals clawed, attached to base of column, obliquely triangular, glabrous, margins minutely ciliate or entire, 4-8 x 1.5-5 mm; lip fleshy, claw attached to the base of the column, lamina suborbicular, margins erect, apex short-caudate, 5-7 x 5-7 mm; column 4-5 mm long; filament erect, ca. 0.5 mm long, anther ca. 1.5 mm long, pollinia bright yellow, pedicellate ovary pubescent, 10-16 mm long. Capsule ellipsoidal, 8-13 mm long.
Distribution and Ecology - Rare; known from moist forests and thickets. Rosenberg (B289). Also reported from St. Thomas and Tortola; the West Indies, southern United States, and Mexico to tropical South America
-
Discussion
Neottia glandulosa Sims, Bot. Mag. 22: t. 842. 1804. Ponthieva glandulosa (Sims) R. Br., Hortus Kew. 5: 200. 1813.