Laelia flava Lindl.

[Rosim_in_BR]

Sometimes (or perhaps often?) taxonomists make our lives difficult. Rupicolous Laelia is not an easy group by nature. There are so many different species in it and also a bunch of natural hybrids to make things naturally complicated. When dried and deposited in herbaria different species become so similar that it is impossible, or almost that, to separate them one from another. This poor yellow Laelia (or Sophronitis, or Hoffmannseggella), well known since more than a hundred and fifty years, was recently discovered to be in fact Laelia crispata. So, it would be now Sophronitis crispata, or Hoffmannseggella crispata. Whatever is the case, it seems that nomenclature is not stabilized. Again, I’m choosing to keep the old name for a while.
This is another Laelia with relatively large geographical distribution in the State of Minas Gerais. I remember seeing it in flower years ago, the hillside spotted of yellow balls emerging high above the tall grass. For the orchid lover, there’s nothing like such visions!
I have three or four plants of this species, this one barely getting mature. It will get higher than that.