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1 Chlorophyllous roots without white marks; perianth segments (sepals/petals) < 4 mm long; lip ovate, lacking long caudate lobes, pale yellow; scrotiform spurs to 4 mm long; roots < 1 mm wide |
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1 Plant not a vine, instead a cespitose, trailing, rhizomatous, or hanging herb; stems not succulent. | |
4 Plant without pseudobulbs or basally thickened stems, instead only with fleshy, glabrous, fibrous, or chlorophyllous roots | |
5 Plants with fleshy, glabrous, or fibrous roots, not evidently photosynthetic or velamentous; plants with 1 to many leaves. | |
6 Stems with numerous alternate, cauline leaves; leaf blades ovate to elliptic or lanceolate, fleshy-leathery | |
6 Stems with a single leaf, erect and sessile or subsessile; leaf blades elliptic to oblanceolate, leathery. | |
7 Inflorescences few flowered racemes (occasionally several-flowered), 0.8-2 cm long; flowers dark red-purple, glabrous, typically congested near apex of inflorescence; stems 1.5-5 (-8) cm long with 4-8 closely appressed, ciliate sheaths; leaf blades < 2.5 cm long. | |
7 Inflorescences many-flowered racemes, (6-)10-25 (-28) cm long; flowers pubescent, translucent yellow, often spaced throughout the inflorescence; stems 10-25 cm long with 2-3 loose, inflated sheaths; leaf blades > 10 cm. | |
5 Plants with chlorophyllous roots, evidently photosynthetic, velamentous (with thick spongy root epidermis); plants with leaves absent, early deciduous, or otherwise inconspicuous. | |
8 Inflorescence a moderate to loosely flowered raceme with 1-10 flowers (less than 12), floral bracts lanceolate; spur arcuate or scrotiform. | |
Show caption*© Alan Cressler: Harrisella porrecta, Fakahatchee Strand State Preserve, Collier County, Florida 1 by Alan Cressler | |
10 Pseudobulbs inconspicuous or not prominent (stems appearing basally thickened or pseudobulb reduced); reduced pseudobulbs often concealed by longer, scarious, leafy bracts. | |
Show caption*© Alan Cressler: Trichocentrum undulatum, Cape Sable, Everglades National Park, Monroe County, Florida 1 by Alan Cressler | |
11 Plants with multiple leaves per stem (2-6); leaves linear-lanceolate or oblong-elliptic; flowers without prominent blotches. | |
12 Inflorescence erect-arching, not strongly secund and not curved upward at apex; flowers lavender or violet to white with dark rose/purple veins extending to distal portions of lip; typically flowering from Mar-Apr, towards the end of the s. FL dry season; leaves 3-13 cm long | |
12 Inflorescence a strongly secund terminal panicle (a simple raceme in smaller plants), often curved upward apically; flowers yellow-pale green; typically flowering from Aug-Dec., towards the end of the wet season and beginning of the s. FL dry season; leaves 3.5-20 cm long | |
10 Pseudobulbs conspicuous or prominent, strongly to slightly compressed; ovoid, sub-orbicular, ellipsoid, or fusiform (bilaterally flattened). | |
Show caption*© Alan Cressler: Encyclia boothiana var. erythronioides, Lard Can, Hells Bay Canoe Trail, Everglades National Park, Miami-Dade County, Florida 1 by Alan Cressler | |
15 Capsules not prominently 3-winged. | |
18 Inflorescence < 50 cm in length. | |
19 Pseudobulb completely enveloped by 6-7 conduplicate distichous leaf sheaths; flowers borne singly on short pedicels arising from leaf axil, without brown blotches; flowers self-pollinating | |
19 Pseudobulb not enveloped by leaves; pedicels originating from inflorescence; flowers yellow to white, with or without brownish blotches, not self-pollinating. | |