Finding

SITF confirms this plant as Galeandra schunkii (Sep 2024). This plant matches photos in the OW and the orchidroots.com and a photo of the G. schunkii awarded in Brazil in 2015, 1ST/CAOB, as seen in the OW. It is an excellent match to the photos in Richardiana 9:64 (2009).

Finding

SITF has determined this plant to be Acanthophippium curtisii, not A. eburneum (Sep 2024). Drawings of A. curtisii on the IOSPE match this plant better than the A. eburneum drawing. In the "Gardener's Chronicle" the description of A. eburneum is compared with A. curtisii. The differences include: A. eburneum's perianth is ivory-white; that of curtisii is rose-colored; the lip of eburneum is almost unilobed with the side lobes barely resolved from the midlobe; that of curtisii is distinctly trilobed, as is this plant; the crest in eburneum consists of a single, sharp trianglar line while that of curtisii is more complex with five keels. This disk is clearly does not have a single triangular line. Both species are found in Borneo.

Finding

SITF confirms this plant as Restrepia royi (Sep 2024). One of the defining characteristics of this species is the lip, which when viewed from the side, looks like a child's slide or a swimming pool slide. This feature can be seen in the profile photo of this plant. This species was recently described in 2023 by Kevin Holcomb and Wiel Driessen. The measurements appear correct. The convex epichile of the lip is considered a distinguishing feature in their description.

Finding

SITF confirms this plant as Lepanthes tonduziana (Sep 2024). This plant has been identified by Franco Pupulin as Lepanthes tonduziana. The flower size is in range. The form matches the photo and drawing of L. tonduziana in the IOSPE; The plant can be seen as a single flowered, successive bloomer on the back of the leaf in the plant photo which matches the description of Lepanthes tonduziana in the IOSPE. It also matches two photos in the orchidroots.com.

Finding

SITF has determined this plant to be Pleurothallis setosa, not Muscarella fimbriata (Sep 2024). Franco Pupulin has identified this plant as Andreettaea fimbriata; he transferred Muscarella fimbriata to Andreettaea fimbriata, published in Lankesteriana 2023, Supplement 43, but Muscarella fimbriata is considered by Kew to be a later synonym of Plths. setosa. To date, Kew has not accepted Andreettaea fimbriata. This plant matches Luer's drawing and photos of Plths. setosa in the IOSPE.

Finding

SITF has determined this plant to be Dracula chimaera, not Dracula tubeana (Sep 2024). This plant was originally awarded as Dracula tarantula which was then recognized as Dracula tubeana in Sept 2020. It was challenged as D. chimaera which fits the description better than D. tubeana based on is shape, coloration, and fixed lip. Also, Dracula tubeana has a very distinct color pattern that is different from this plant which does fit D. chimaera.

Finding

SITF confirms this plant as Stelis luz-marinae (Sep 2024). This species was described in "A new species of Stelis subgen. Unciferia (Orchidaceae: Pleurothallidinae) from Costa Rica by Gustavo Rojas-Alvarado in the Phytotaxa Article published in 2023. This plant matches the species, S. luz-marinae, as described in the article and identified by the taxonomist Dr. Franco Pupulin.

Finding

This award was nullified by the AOS (Aug 2024).

Finding

This award was nullified by the AOS.

Finding

SITF confirms this plant as Paphiopedilum coccineum (Aug 2024). This plant matches the form of P. coccineum. The staminode and boss (protuberant part, a round swelling part, a knoblike process) are an excellent match to the photo in Oakley & Braem's Paph Species: The Essential Guide. The light color is not a taxonomically named color form and does not need to be specified in the title.

Finding

SITF confirms this plant as Epidendrum splendens (Aug 2024). It is a larger flower in the Epi. secundum group, resupinate, and spherical inflorescence. The lip matches, including the crests. This plant matches the description and photo of Epi. splendens in the article in the Species Orchidacearum - Icones Colombianae, Epidendrum splendens. The strongly fimbriate lip lobes, long claw between midlobe and side lobes, the long, plate-like pointed crest running from the base of the lip all along the claw and the large lobe-like crests on either side at the base all fit.

Finding

SITF confirms this plant as Prosthechea pachysepala (Sep 2024). This plant is almost an identical match to the photo of Prosthechea pachysepala identified by Cassio Vandenberg in the website inaturalist.org. The POWO herbarium specimen and photo match this plant and the photo in the IOSPE of Prosthechea pachysepala with good resolution and focus closely matches this plant.

Finding

SITF confirms this plant as Phalaenopsis bellina F. caerulea (Aug 2024). Although it is considered a synonym in POWO, forma caerulea is a taxonomically valid forma first published by O. Gruss et.al. in Orchidee, 2017. This plant matches the description and photos for Phal. bellina forma caerulea in that publication and should be used in the description for this plant.

Finding

SITF has confirmed that this plant is Epidendrum fulgens (Aug 2024). The lip callus on this plant is an excellent match to that on the illustration in the 1975 Band I of Pabst/Dungs "Orchidaceae Brasiliensis". This crest consisting of two globular structures at the top and a single central ridge ending in a sharp point fits the species. It is an excellent match to Grobler's photo in the IOSPE.

Finding

SITF has determined this plant to be Dendrobium crystallinum, not Dendrobium jinghuanum (Aug 2024). This determination was aided with the identification by Dr. Andre Schuiteman. The description in the original publication as Dendrobium jinghuanum was first published in Phytotaxa 428: 40 (2020). This paper described D. jinghuanum as having two dark eyes (occuli) in the lip and a key characteristic of cilia on the anther cap which differs in form from D. crystallinum and D. wardianum, which are very similar species. The anther cap in this flower and the lack of occuli in the lip matches D. crystallinum much better than in D. jinghuanum. Photos, drawings, and the description of D. jinghuanum and its differences from the other similar species may be found in the original description as published in Researchgate, "Dendrobium jinghuanum, a new orchid species from Yunnan, China" January 2020.

Finding

SITF confirms this plant as Stelis transversalis (Sep 2024). This plant is almost an exact match to the photos and illustration of Stelis transversalis in Lankester/Epidendra.com, Stelis transversalis. This is an excellent match to the Ames drawing of S. transversalis on the POWO. It is an almost exact match to the Karreman's photo and photo of the inflorescence on the IOSPE.