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{{Taxobox
| color = lightgreen
| name = Snake's head restrepiella
| regnum = [[Plant]]ae
| divisio = [[Flowering plant|Magnoliophyta]]
| classis = [[Monocotyledon|Liliopsida]]
| ordo = [[Asparagales]]
| familia = [[Orchidaceae]]
| subfamilia = [[Epidendroideae]]
| tribus = Epidendreae
| subtribus = Pleurothallidinae
| genus = '''''[[Restrepiella]]'''''
| genus_authority = [[Garay]] & [[Dunst.]]
| species = '''''R. ophiocephala'''''
| binomial = ''Restrepiella ophiocephala''
| binomial_authority = ([[John Lindley|Lindl.]], 1838) [[Garay]] & [[Dunst.]], 1966
}}

The '''snake's head restrepiella''' (''Restrepiella ophiocephala'') is a [[species]] of [[orchid]] and the only species of the genus '''''Restrepiella'''''. The orchid is known from [[Mexico]] to [[Costa Rica]], occurring in damp forests alongside rivers at low altitude (40-1,600 m). It is morphologically similar to ''[[Restrepia]]'', but differs in lacking hairlike attachments on a mobile [[labellum|lip]] and having 4 [[pollinium|pollinia]] instead of two.

The epithet ''ophiocephala'' is derived from the [[Greek language|Greek]] words ''ophis'' (snake) and ''cephalos''' (head).

It grows from a short, creeping [[rhizome]] as a tufted, robust [[epiphyte]] to a length between 8 and 35 cm. The stout, cylindrical [[Plant stem|stem]] is erect and about 15 cm long and has a tubular bract. The fleshy, oblanceolate [[Leaf|leaves]] are 8 to 18 cm long and have a short petiole.

The tiny single [[flower]]s have a length of about 2 cm. They grow from the base of the leaves, one at a time, on up to four clustered [[inflorescence]]s. They have a pale yellowish-brown color, dotted with dull purple spots. The outer surface is downy. The obovate, dorsal [[sepal]] is erect, while the lateral sepals are fused ([[synsepal]]s) with a small split at their apex. The elliptic [[petal]]s are much shorter and with ciliated margins. The fleshy [[labellum|lip]] is tongue-shaped.

The flowers are in bloom from winter to spring and are strongly scented.

==References==
*Luer, C.A. (2000) Icones Pleurothallidinarum XVIII - SYSTEMATICS OF LEPANTHOPSIS, RESTREPIELLA, RESTREPIOPSIS, SALPISTELE & TEAGUEIA Missouri Botanical Garden, Missouri ISBN 0-915279-79-7
*McLeish, I., Pearce, N.R. & B.R. Adams. (1995) Native Orchids of Belize. Rotterdam, Netherlands: A.A. Balkema.

==External link==
*[http://www.belizebotanic.org/orchids/restrepiella_ophiocephala.html Photos from Belize Botanical Gardens]

[[Category:Orchid genera]]
[[Category:Orchid species]]

Snake's head restrepiella - Revision history

MediaWiki default at 10:03, 21 July 2007