Wildlife Spotting

Ok, so far I've learned that Spiranthoideae no longer exists and is now part of the tribe Cranichideae, within the subfamily Orchidoideae! None of which may be of any interest to you but may be of assistance depending on the age of your reference material. I can't find any pictorial reference to Ponthieva pubescens apart from amongst several (possibly also outdated) other species: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ponthieva_pubescens_(as_Ponthieva_montana)_-_Ponthieva_mandonii_-_Ponthieva_sprucei_-_Flora_Brasiliensis_3-4-66.jpg It's confusing to compare a your plants with a lot of Ponthieva photos because the degree of resupination (a lot of orchid flowers twist through 180 degrees before opening) seems to vary a lot amongst some species. I really wish I had a Bolivian Orchidaceae flora to work with...... or any decent south american orchid flora for that matter! There's a definite hole in the library, one to remedy when funds permit ;) I'll keep digging on this but please let me know if your botanist friend gets anywhere.

On reflection, I reckon it's in the sub family Spiranthoideae and could well be a species of Ponthieva. Reminds me of P.racemosa. I'll look into it more tomorrow. Must get some sleep now!

By the waay, I deleted the duplicate photos and changed the order to show the flowers. I hope you don't mind. Please change the order to how it suits you best if you do. Some of the pics are on their side, is there any chance you could reupload them upright?

It certainly is a beautiful little terrestrial orchid! Not doing very well pollination wise it seems. Don't recognise it offhand but there are a good few small flowered terrestrials in that part of the world. One worth digging deep in the books for :D They seem to be collected for herbarium specimens - I'm curious why they tubers or rhizomes weren't exhumed too? They could really help narrow down ID. Was it a conscious decision to leave the plants something to recover from?