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(Last Modified On 1/4/2013)
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(Last Modified On 1/4/2013)
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Genus
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MORMODES Lindl.
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PlaceOfPublication
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Introd. Nat. Syst. Bot. ed. 2, 446. 1836
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Reference
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Benth. & Hook. Gen. Pl. 3:552. 1883.
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Synonym
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Cyclosia Kl. in Allgem. Gartenzeit. 6:305. 1838.
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Description
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Epiphytic herbs, with cylindric or fusiform pseudobulbs usually tapering uni- formly upward. Leaves plicate, strongly veined, distichous, the unarmed imbricat- ing bases enclosing the pseudobulbs; leaf blades deciduous. Inflorescences arching racemes produced from the base or lower sides of the pseudobulbs. Flowers few or many, often richly colored. Sepals free, subequal, spreading or strongly reflexed. Petals subequal to the sepals or sometimes broader. Lip entire or 3-lobed, often fleshy, the lateral lobes or margins usually strongly reflexed, base often with a claw which is adnate to the base of the column. Column usually curved and twisted to one side so that the dorsal surface of the apex rests against the lip, the anther and stigmatic surface being thus exposed; rostellum without antennae, base of the col- umn without a foot. Anther terminal, operculate, incumbent, 1- or imperfectly 2- celled, extremely sensitive; pollinia 2 or 4, waxy, often ejected during the process of pressing the flowers and found adhering to the lip, or to one of the other floral parts.
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Note
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An interesting genus of American epiphytic orchids, ranging from Mexico to Peru and Brazil, vegetatively reminiscent of Catasetum, but readily distinguishable even when not in flower by the absence of spines on the upper margins of the im- bricating leaf bases enveloping the old pseudobulbs. Many species have been described, often founded on single specimens flowering in European greenhouses. Although many entities enter into the present confused picture, it seems probable that most represent color forms of either Mormodes igneum or M. atropurpureum. In spite of this abundance of named color forms, valid diagnostic characters seem to exist, based mostly on the lobes in the lip, whether present or absent, and their relative size, shape or indument. Although even these characters are subject to a certain amount of individual interpretation, four fairly well-marked entities can be separated in Panama. Due to the extreme tortion of all of the floral parts, it is generally necessary to spread the lip out fully to obtain any adequate idea of its shape.
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Key
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a. Lip distinctly 3-lobed, about as long as broad; mid-lobe projecting conspicuously beyond the laterals, the apex sometimes recurved........1. M. ATROPURPUREUM aa. Lip entire, or of two lateral lobules with a shortly apiculate apex. b. Blade of lip elliptic-ovate to rhombic-ovate, acute or acuminate, not abruptly apiculate, about twice as long as broad ...................... ............ 2. M. COLOSSUS bb. Blade of lip obovate, oval or suborbicular, obtuse, or truncate, abruptly apiculate, about as long as broad. c. Lip glabrous .................................................................................. 4. M. IGNEUM cc. Lip pubescent ......................................................................... 3. M. HOOKERI
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