Lepanthes luerorum B.T.Larsen, 2014

Larsen, Bruno, 2014, Three new species of Lepanthes (Orchidaceae), Phytotaxa 175 (5), pp. 275-280 : 279-280

Lepanthes luerorum B.T.Larsen , sp. nov. ( Fig. 3 .)

This species is vegetatively similar to Lepanthes sanjuanensis from neighboring Costa Rica, but can be readily distinguished from the later by the glabrous petals, the glabrous, lightly concave blades of the lip, with acute apices, and by the minute, oblong, ciliate appendix at the sinus.

Type:— PANAMA. Prov. of Chiriqui: epiphytic in forest above Boquete , 1,300-1,400 m, 6 May 2013, collected in the wild by Peter H . Peeters & André De Jonghe 023, flowered in cultivation in Bertem, Belgium, 9 July 2013, P . Peeters s.n. (holotype LISI -1595/2013, LISI!)

Plant small, epiphytic, caespitose; roots slender. Ramicauls slender, erect, 1.5–2.5 cm long, enclosed by 2–3, dark, microscopically scabrous, lepanthiform sheaths with oblique, dilated, ostia. Leaf erect, coriaceous, ovate, acute, purple beneath, 2.5–3 × 1–1.2 cm wide, the, the base cuneate into a petiole 2 mm long. Inflorescence a congested, successively many-flowered raceme at least 1.37 mm long, borne behind the leaf by a filiform peduncle 1.5 cm long; floral bracts muriculate, 0.4 mm long; pedicels 1.37 mm long; ovary smooth, 1.53 mm long. Sepals yellow, suffused with red at the base, glabrous, the margins sparsely cellular-denticulate; dorsal sepal ovate-triangular, acute, 2.86 × 2.32 mm, 3-veined, connate to the lateral sepals for 0.5 mm, the lateral sepals ovate, acute, the tips minutely acuminate, 2.34 × 1.38 mm, connate for 1.88 mm, 2-veined. Petals orange, red medially, glabrous, transversely bilobed, 0.3× 2.49 mm, lobes oblique, upper lobe obliquely triangular, subacute, lower lobe subquadrate, obtuse. Lip magenta, bilaminate, blades oblong with rounded bases, lightly concave, apices shortly ciliate, acute, 1 mm long, the connectives minutely pubescent, long and narrow, forming a narrow body, connate to the base of the column, the sinus with a minute, oblong ciliate appendix. Column magenta, cellular pubescent, dumbbell-shaped, 2 mm long, the anther and stigma apical. Capsule unknown.

Etymology:— Named in honor of Carl and Jane Luer of Sarasota, Florida, as recognition for their decades of monumental work on the Pleurotallidinae.

Distribution and habitat:—This species is only known from Panama where it was found north of Boquete. It grows as epiphyt on twigs of low, open scrubby vegetation, on a five meter long strip of cloud forest along a river.

Comments:— This little species is only known from a single collection. Vegetatively it is similar to Lepanthes sanjuanensis Bogarín & Karremans in Bogarín et al. (2012: 113). Lepanthes sanjuanensis differs with longer pedicels (5mm vs. 1.3 mm); petals with an oblong, rounded, entire upper lobes and oblong rounded and ciliate lower lobes (vs. obliquely triangular, subacute upper lobes and subquadrate, obtuse and glabrous lower lobes) and with a lip with conspicuous bristles at the apex of the blades (vs. shortly ciliate).

Figures

FIGURE 3. Lepanthes luerorum B.T.Larsen.. A. Segment of inflorescence with one flower in frontal view. B. Dissected flower. C. Lip and column, dorsal view. D. Expanded lip in frontal view. E. Ovary, column and lip, lateral view. F. Habit. Drawn from the holotype by B. Larsen.