Clowesia
(pronounced: KLOWS-ee-ah)
Classification
Cymbidieae subtribe Catasetinae
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Etymology
Dedicated to Rev. Clowes, an early orchid grower in England.
Distribution
A genus of six species found from Mexico to Venezuela. Previously included in a broadly defined Catasetum L. C. Richard, Clowesia differs by having bisexual flowers.
Care and Culture Card
See basic growing conditions and care information below.
Grow plants of Clowesia in pots or baskets of medium-grade epiphyte mixture. Provide very bright light levels, intermediate to warm temperatures, and regular watering during active growth. Following flowering and the loss of the leaves reduce watering to a minimal maintenance level until the onset of new growth. Some species of Clowesia survive a dry season up to eight months long in nature.
SpeciesKey
1 Flowers pink. C. rosea 1' Flowers green. 2 2(1') Lip notched at the apex, all lobules fringed-fimbriate. C. warscewiczii 2' Lip not notched at the apex, the lobules essentially entire. 3 3(2') Saccate-spur incurved, parallel to the lip midlobe. C. russelliana 3' Saccate-spur projected backwards, parallel to the ovary. 4 4(3') Lip apex broadly rounded; stipe of the pollinarium with a pair of small teeth. C. dodsoniana 4' Lip apex subacute; stipe of the pollinarium rounded, without teeth. C. thylaciochila
Literature
Aguirre, E. L. 1987. Clowesia dodsoniana: una nueva Clowesia de Mexico. Orquidea(Mex.) 10:191-200; Dodson, C. H. 1975. Dressleria and Clowesia: a new genus and an old one revived in the Catasetinae (Orchidaceae). Selbyana 1:130-137; Hills, H. G. and N. H. Williams 1990. Fragrance cycle of Clowesia rosea. Orquidea(Mex.) 12:19-22; Monnier, G. 1990. Current history of Catasetinae breeding, 2: Clowesia. Amer. Orchid Soc. Bull. 59(11):1124-1128; Richardson, D. 1957. Catasetum roseum. Amer. Orchid Soc. Bull. 26(10):706-707; Teuscher, H. 1977. Collector’s Item: Catasetum thylaciochilum. Amer. Orchid Soc. Bull. 46(11):1007-1010; Warford, N. M. and B. Harrell 1996. Clowesia dodsoniana Aguirre L., its history, pollination, and osmophores. Orchid Digest 60(4):174-179.
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