Dressleria
(pronounced: dress-LAYR-ee-ah)
Classification
Cymbideae subtribe Catasetinae
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Overview
Caespitose epiphytes with fleshy roots. Pseudobulbs spindle-shaped, concealed by papery bracts and persistent leaf sheaths. Leaves several per pseudobulbs, alternate, distichous, thin-textured. Inflorescences basal, arching to erect pedunculate racemes, the floral bracts lanceolate, shorter than to subequal the ovaries. Flowers extremely fleshy-rigid, strongly fragrant, waxy, white, yellow, or greenish-white. Sepals and petals free, spreading, subsimilar, subequal. Lip unlobed, rigidly fused to the column base, ovate to suborbicular, with a central saccate cavity flanked by callus ridges. Column extremely fleshy and short; pollinia 2, flattened, on a common linear-oblong stipe and transverse viscidium.
Etymology
Named for Orchidologist Robert L. Dressler.
Distribution
A genus of 14 species distributed from Nicaragua to Peru. The plants are remarkable for the strong floral and vegetative fragrance. Dried parts of Dressleria often retain their fragrance for many years.
Care and Culture Card
See basic growing conditions and care information below.
Grow plants of Dressleria in pots or baskets with either sphagnum moss or a medium-grade epiphyte mixture that includes moisture-retaining material. Provide bright diffused light, intermediate temperatures, and regular watering throughout the year. Unlike its relatives Catasetum and Mormodes, plants of Dressleria do not have a pronounced rest season and the roots of Dressleria should never dry out for extensive periods of time.
Literature
Dodson, C. H. 1975. Dressleria and Clowesia: a new name and an old one revived in the Catasetinae (Orchidaceae). Selbyana 1:130-137. Hills, H. G. 1993. The genus Dressleria. Amer. Orchid Soc. Bull. 62(6):614-618. Hills, H. G. 2000. New species of Dressleria (Orchidaceae: Catasetinae) from Central and South America. Lindleyana 15(3):171-175.
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