Giant Pleurothallis

Appearance

Found in Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia and Ecuador in wet montane forests at elevations of 880 to 2400 meters as a medium to large sized, warm to cold growing epiphyte with stout, erect ramicauls enveloped a large, loose, tubular sheath near the middle and 2 to 3, other loose sheaths at the base and carrying a single, apical, suberect to spreading, coriaceous, broadly ovate, acute, acuminate, deeply cordate below in to the sessile base leaf that blooms in the fall through spring on a fascile of 5 to 10, erect, 8 to 15.2" [20 to 38 cm] long overall, rachis 6 to 12.2" [15 to 31 cm] long, simultaneously, subdensely many flowered inflorescence arising through a foliaceous spathe and has infundibular floral bracts.

Probably the largest plant within Pleurothallis, its rivals include P excelsa and P gargantua, it can reach a meter tall and have a leaf the size of a dinner plate. It always has several inflorescence arising through a spathe on the same leaf with small, white, purple spotted, simultaneously opening flowers

Naming

Synonyms:
Pleurothallis hirtzii Luer 1980
Pleurothallis praegrandis Ames 1923
Pleurothallis saccata Ames 1923