Bifrenaria
(pronounced: bye-fren-AYR-ee-ah)
Classification
Maxillarieae subtribe Lycastinae
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Overview
Caespitose to creeping epiphytes and lithophytes. Pseudobulbs usually four-angled, often glossy, frequently becoming orange-bronze with age. Leaves one, stiff, +/- petiolate. Inflorescences basal erect racemes, the peduncle short to elongate. Flowers cupped or tubular, often fragrant. Sepals and petals free, spreading, subsimilar, subequal, the lateral sepals forming a spur with the foot. Lip unlobed, obscurely three-lobed or three-lobed, often pubescent-villose, with a central callus. Column straight, with a short to elongate foot, without wings; pollinia 4, compressed, in two unequal pairs, each pair attached by a separate stipe to a common viscidium.
Etymology
From the Latin bi, meaning two, and frenum, meaning strap, in allusion to the two caudicles connecting the pollinia to the visicidum.
Distribution
A genus of 22 species in South America. Two species have been segregated as Cydoniorchis on the basis of their pollinia structure. Species bearing long-pedunculate inflorescences are sometimes separated as Adipe or Stenocoryne.
Care and Culture Card
See basic growing conditions and care information below.
Grow plants of Bifrenaria in pots or baskets with a medium-grade epiphyte mixture. Provide warm temperatures, bright light, and regular watering throughout the year. Allow the roots to dry out slightly between watering. Bifrenaria generally flower more readily if pot-bound and overpotting certain species results in a reluctance to flower in cultivation.
Literature
Hoehne, F. C. 1944. Revisão taxonomica e sistematica do genero Bifrenaria Lindl. Arq. Bot. Edo. São Paulo, n. s., 2:11-14 (reprinted in Orquídea 7:132-136). Senghas, K. 1994. Adipe villosula (Brade) Wolff 1990. Die Orchidee 45(3): Orchideenkartei Seite 759-760. Wolff, M. 1990. Adipe Raf., ein “vergessener Name.” Die Orchidee 41(2):35-37.
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