Octomeria cf. scirpoidea

[naoki]

I purchased it as Octomeria scirpoidea from Orquideas Amazonicas this spring. I'm not sure if it makes it or not (not in a good shape), but I happened to notice the small flower. I don't have enough info to determine the ID. The shape of the flowers are fairly similar to O. scirpoidea (= O. brevifolia) in Luer's illustration (Link). However, the flower color is not right. Original description says that the flower is pale yellow. Can anyone help me with the ID (and possibly culture tips)? If you click the photos, you can see the larger images on flickr.

It is a compact plant; the length of stem + leaf is about 7-8cm. It might be smaller than the description in Sambin and Chiron (2016). According to google translate, the height of O. scirpoidea is around 10-25cm. The photo in this paper shows yellow flower.
Sambin, A., & Chiron, G. R. 2016. Révision de la liste des Octomeria (Orchidaceae) de Guyane. 16 (June): 277-292 (I think PDF is accessible to all if you click it).


Octomeria cf. scirpoidea on Flickr


Octomeria cf. scirpoidea on Flickr


Octomeria cf. scirpoidea on Flickr


Octomeria cf. scirpoidea on Flickr


Octomeria cf. scirpoidea plant on Flickr

The leaf is about 1-1.5cm long, the stem + leaf is about 7-10cm long. The length of dorsal sepal and petals is 4mm, and the lateral sepals are a bit longer (6mm).

 

[abax]

Naoki, I love your outstanding oddities and assume they're
cool growers. This one looks like it's made of ice...so much
sparkle.

 

[naoki]

Thanks, Angela. The vendor's catalogue mentioned that this is a hot grower. It's not doing well (hot growers are difficult for me), so I'm trying to find out more info about the ID.

Actually, the first photo with sparkles is a bit cheated because I used one fairly strong back light to get that effect. But it is a beautiful flowers (with a magnifier).

 

[RandyT]

Great photography of a really neat plant. I've never seen anything like this in Hawaii...but then again, I haven't looked for it.

 

[NYEric]

Did you check IOSPE?

 

[SlipperFan]

I'd suggest sending a couple of your photos to Andy at Andy's Orchids. I'll bet he can ID it.

 

[naoki]

Randy, you probably know it, but in Hawaii, Tropical Orchid Farm has nice Pleurothallids!

Eric, yes, I checked IOSPE, and Jay isn't completely sure about this color variety.

Dot, thanks. I might contact him, but I kind of figured it out. Bill Pinnix of Seal Rock Orchids, who is very knowledgeable and hangs out in OrchidsForum, kindly keyed out with Luer's Icones Pleurothallidinarum 31. He thinks that it is within the description of O. scirpoidea. Here is the link to the thread. It is a wide spread species along the norther regions of South America. Peru is at the very edge of the geographic distribution. So I'm wondering if this drastically different color may be a regional form. Here is the more typical yellow color:

© S. Manning. 2008. Octomeria scirpoidea (Poepp. & Endl.) Rchb.f. Swiss Orchid Foundation at the Herbarium Jany Renz. Botanical Institute, University of Basel, Switzerland. (I'm using this image here because it is ok to use it for non-commercial purpose with the proper attribution).

 

[NYEric]

IOSPE - 168 species. That's as far as I got.

 

[RandyT]

Thanks Naoki. I haven't been to TOF in ages...tooooo many temptations!

 

[Ozpaph]

really nicely documented