Brachycorythis
(pronounced: brack-ee-koh-RYE-thiss)
Classification
Orchideae subtribe Orchidinae
Overview
Terrestrials arising from thick fleshy roots or tubers. Stems erect, leafy, unbranched. Leaves numerous, lanceolate. Inflorescences terminal racemes, the floral bracts prominent, usually leaf-like. Flowers showy, usually purple. Sepals and petals free, spreading, subsimilar. Lip three-lobed, the lateral lobes small, flanking a short boat-shaped or saccate hypochile, the midlobe (epichile) three-lobulate, often folded downwards along the midvein. Column short, the anther sacs parallel; pollinia 2.
Etymology
From the Greek brachys, meaning short, and korys, meaning helmet, referring to the helmet-like structure formed by the dorsal sepal and petals in many species.
Distribution
A genus of about 35 species in tropical and South Africa and southeast Asia. Schwartzkopffia is sometimes included in a broadly defined Brachycorythis.
Care and Culture Card
See basic growing conditions and care information below.
Grow plants of Brachycorythis in pots of sandy loam. Provide bright light, intermediate to cool-intermediate temperatures, and steady watering during active growth. After flowering, withhold water until the plants go completely dormant. Resume watering only after the appearance of new growth.
Literature
Kidson, S. and E. Fletcher 1986. Brachycorythis ovata Lindl. S. Afr. Orchid J. 17(3):118-119. Pushpangadan, P. and C. Sathish Kumar 1995. The lost orchid of the Tahr Country. Amer. Orchid Soc. Bull. 64(9):960-963. Summerhayes, V. S. 1955. A revision of the genus Brachycorythis. Kew Bull. 10:221-264.
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