The green links below add additional plants to the comparison table. Blue links lead to other Web sites.
enable glossary links

Florida butterfly orchid, Tampa butterfly orchid

Habit Plants to 50 cm.
Leaves

1–3, linear-lanceolate, 8–40 × 0.5–2 cm, leathery.

Inflorescences

racemes to panicles, lax, 10–80 cm.

Flowers

3–45, green, yellow, or brown, often suffused with purple;

sepals and petals similar, extended, oblanceolate-spatulate, 12–22 × 4–6.5 mm, apex obtuse;

lip white, deeply 3-lobed, 12–18 × 12–18 mm when spread, middle lobe usually with large purple spot, suborbiculate, 6–10 mm wide, margins undulate, lateral lobes purple-veined, ovate-triangular;

callus on isthmus;

anthers 1, yellow;

column straight, prominent wings on sides of stigmatic cavity, 1 cm.

Capsules

pedicel 15–17 mm, body 17–27 × 15 mm, beak 3 mm.

Pseudobulbs

aggregate, dark green, ovoid-pyriform, 1–7 × 1–2.5 cm.

Encyclia tampensis

Phenology Flowering May–Sep; fruiting throughout year.
Habitat Epiphytic on many different trees and palms in forests and hammocks
Elevation 0–100 m (0–300 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
FL; West Indies (Bahamas)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Flowers of Encyclia tampensis are fragrant, with a sweet or honey odor, starting about noon and peaking in early afternoon when small bees in genera Auglochlora and Halictus pollinate the flowers.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source FNA vol. 26, p. 608.
Parent taxa Orchidaceae > subfam. Epidendroideae > tribe Epidendreae > subtribe Laeliinae > Encyclia
Synonyms Epidendrum tampense, E. tampensis, Epidendrum tampense var. albolabium
Name authority (Lindley) Small: Fl. Miami, 56. (1913)
Web links