Cryptocentrum misasii P.Ortiz & Carnevali, 2012

Carnevali, German, Ortiz, Pedro & Peraza-Flores, Lizandro N., 2012, The " lady in white ", a showy new species of Cryptocentrum (Orchidaceae, Maxillariinae) from Colombia, Phytotaxa 56 (1), pp. 1-8 : 2-5

Cryptocentrum misasii P.Ortiz & Carnevali , sp. nov. ( Figures 1 and 2 )

Type:— Colombia, Chocó : Mutis ( Bahía Solano ), Serranía del Baudó, Cerro Mecana, ca. 800 m. “Planta epífita del estrato arbóreo alto, sumamente escasa, sólo se ha colectado un ejemplar a +/- 1000 mts, en el Cerro Mecana; las flores son blancas e inusualmente grandes dentro del género", Misas-Urreta 268 (holotype, HPUJ, divided by the

collector in four sheets: 268a ( HPUJ 23199), 268b ( HPUJ 23202), 268c ( HPUJ 23200), 268d ( HPUJ 23201), the most complete being 268b.

Species haec facile distinguitur a ceteris speciebus magnitudine et albo colore florum.

Epiphytic herbs to 30 cm tall, monopodial, cespitose, erect, stems clothed by foliar sheaths. Roots absent in the type material but thin, fasciculate, and glabrous according to a drawing by the collector. Leaves about 8 distichously arranged on the monopodia, 23.0–30.0 x 0.8–1.1 mm, conduplicate, coriaceous, linear-oblong, apex asymmetrically bilobulate, protruding lobe ca. 2 mm long. Inflorescences 17–22 cm long, two simultaneous, shorter than leaves, erect or slightly arching, with 10 internodes and bracts; peduncle terete, ca. 1.8 mm thick, internodes 8–12 mm long; bracts conduplicate, 15–18 mm long, gradually larger distally, 2–5 mm wide upon flattening, longer than the internodes they subtend, acute, slightly wider toward mid-length, multinerved. Floral bract 35–40 x 12–18 mm, basally imbricate by and subsimilar to the last bract of the peduncle, dark brown ("color café", fide collector), wider toward midlength, acute. Pedicellate ovary 24 mm long, terete, smooth, completely enclosed within the floral bract. Flowers showy, resupinate, white according to the collector (the published photograph suggests a hint of an ivory cast), the free portion of the perianth segments widely spreading, all perianth segments glabrous. Sepals delicately 11-nerved; dorsal sepal 24.5 x 8.0 mm, oblong-elliptic, acute; lateral sepals subsimilar to dorsal but slightly larger and more narrowly acute; tube 2.5 mm long, 3.0 mm thick. Petals 28 x 10 mm, 7-nerved, lanceolate, acute, slightly oblique, bent portion 10 mm long. Labellum 40 mm long including the spur, weakly divided into epichil and hypochil, hypochil 14.0–15.0 x 10.0 mm, 5.5 mm deep, epichil 5–6 x 3 mm, ovate elliptic, acute, apparently 1-nerved. Spur 20 mm long, 2 mm thick proximally, the apex slightly thickened to 3 mm. Column 3.0 x 2.5 mm, laterally flanked by dolabriform wings for 2/3 of its length. Anther subquadrate, 6 x 6 mm. Pollinaria consisting of a small, shapeless viscidium, a transversal, strap-like stipe, and 4 pollinia in two pairs, a long pair of 0.8 mm long, a short pair of 0.7 mm long. Capsule unknown.

Etymology: ––Named after Dr. Guillermo Misas Urreta, discoverer of the species, who devoted considerable efforts to the collection, study and artistic documentation of Orchidaceae of the Serranía del Baudó (Chocó, Colombia). Dr. Misas Urreta passed away July 7, 2010; he was aware of the fact that we were going to name this species after him.

Diagnostic features and discussion: ––On account of its monopodial growth, conduplicate, distichously arranged leaves, and spur totally enclosed in the large, spathaceous floral bract, Cryptocentrum misasii is a typical member of subgenus Cryptocentrum . However, the species is extraordinary because of its large white flowers. In Carnevali's (2001) key to the species of the genus, C. misasii would not clearly key out to any species because of having thinly coriaceous leaves (which would key out in couplet 12a) but with a spur exceeding 15 mm (thus keying out to couplet 12b). However, the combination of characters suggests it is related to the C. lehmannii ( Reichenbach 1878: 10) Garay (1958: 209) complex of species and, within this complex, it seems most similar to C. dodsonii Carnevali (2001: 474) from the eastern slopes of the Andes in Ecuador (Loja). From C. dodsonii , this novelty is easily diagnosed by the white flowers with larger perianth segments (e.g. dorsal sepal 24.5 mm long in C. misasii vs. 9.5–16.0 mm in C. dodsonii ) and spur (20 mm in C. misasii vs. 12–14 mm in C. dodsonii ). It is also a larger plant than C. dodsonii , with leaves in this species of (4.0–)6.0–17.0(–25.0) x 0.3–0.8 cm long whereas they are 23.0–30.0 x 0.8–1.1 cm in this new species. Furthermore, C. dodsonii is known from elevations of (1400–) 2000–2700 m on the eastern slopes of the Andes, whereas C. misasii is known from the western slopes at elevations of ca. 1000 m.

Cryptocentrum misasii attains the largest vegetative and floral dimensions of any species in the genus. Cryptocentrum latifolium is the only species approaching the vegetative dimensions of C. misasii ; the bestdeveloped plants of this common, widely distributed species may be almost as sizable as C. misasii with the largest leaves measured reaching 30 cm; however, most leaves of C. latifolium are in the 5–20 cm long range. Cryptocentrum latifolium features both relatively and absolutely broader leaves (1–2 cm wide) than C. misasii (0.8–1.1 cm wide). In any case, both the vegetative and floral dimensions and the white perianth segments make C. misasii unmistakable. The relatively large showy white flower lends the species its nickname, "the lady in white".

The flowers of Cryptocentrum misasii superficially resemble those of Cryptocentrum roseans (Schltr.) Hawkes (1953: 379) in overall shape and color (although flowers are often rose-colored in C. roseans ) but are about twice as large. However, as mentioned before, the spur in C. misasii is much longer than the floral tube while it is much shorter than the floral tube in C. roseans . Furthermore, the plant of C. roseans has a sympodial habit with unifoliate pseudobulbs laxly arranged on an elongate rhizome as opposed to the monopodial stems lacking pseudobulbs found in C. misasii .

Distribution and ecology: — Cryptocentrum misasii has been so far collected in a single area of western Colombia (Chocó, Mutis [Bahía Solano], Serranía del Baudó, Cerro Mecana, 6°15'53.91"N, 77°18'9.21"W, 1117 m; figure 3). This is a difficult area to access and could be better explored. The only researcher who has systematically documented and published on the orchids of the Serranía del Baudó was Dr. Guillermo Misas- Urreta ( Misas-Urreta, 2005), in which this extraordinary species was first featured. Cryptocentrum misasii may be another of several narrow endemics of the genus found along the western slopes of the Andes such as, among others, C. longipetalum Carnevali (2001: 479) , C. spathaceum , and C. silverstonei . However, as opposed to these three species, C. misasii occurs at relatively low elevations of 800–1000 m. A note on the reported collecting elevation for this species is warranted. The herbarium labels indicate an elevation of " 1000 m " or "+/- 1000 m ". However, the text of the species in Misas-Urreta (2005) records 800 m.

Guillermo Misas-Urreta collected three additional species of Cryptocentrum at the Serranía del Baudó, two of which remained unidentified until now, although both were depicted in his book; below we provide determinations for them. A third species (Misas-Urreta 133, HPUJ), featured on pages 108–109 as C. standleyi is more correctly referred to C. flavum Schlechter (1913: 214) on account of its short stem, relatively long leaves and short inflorescences. The species featured as " Cryptocentrum sp. " on pages 102–103 is typical C. latifolium with broad, thick leaves and large flowers (Misas-Urreta 135, HPUJ). The one on pages 104– 105, also as " Cryptocentrum sp. ", is one of many forms of C. lehmannii and is easily identified by the narrow leaves with long inflorescences (Misas-Urreta 136, HPUJ). The fourth species included in the book (pages 106–107) is the one described here as new.

Conservation status. —This taxon is only known from the type locality, thus according to the IUCN (2010) it should be listed as DD (data deficient); however, as IUCN states: "… If people have searched for the taxon, both at the type locality and at a reasonable number of other potential localities, and no more than 50 mature individuals are estimated, then the taxon would be listed as Critically Endangered D (an appropriate time interval for the taxon must be used)." Dr. Misas-Urreta (type series collector) traveled and documented the orchids along ca. 150 km of the Serranía del Baudó (a cordillera running along 375 km in Panama and Colombia) for over 20 years; despite this, he found only one specimen, which he kept in cultivation. Thus, knowing the effort made by Dr. Misas-Urreta collecting and documenting the orchids of that area, we think it is safe to assume the species is effectively rare and most likely restricted to a single or few mountain peaks on the Serranía del Baudó. This statement is supported by the fact that Dr. Misas-Urreta collected the other three species of Cryptocentrum that, based upon biogeographical evidence should occur along the northern Chocó area, and all three were recorded as either "frequent" ( C. flavum , as C. standleyii ) or were given elevational ranges ( C. latifolium and C. lehmannii ), clearly indicating that several or many plants had been found. Instead, C. misasii was reported as " … very scarce. Only one specimen of it …". Thus, we consider that the conservation status of the species must be assessed as Critically Endangered (D) to stress the rarity of the species, well in advance of any potential efforts of developing the area.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Cryptocentrum misasii P.Ortiz & Carnevali. A. Flowering plant. B. Perianth segments, dissected. C. Column with anther, lateral view; also apex of pedicellate ovary and mouth of the spur. D. Labellum with spur, lateral view. E. Anther and polinaria. Line drawing by G. Misas-Urreta.

FIGURE 2. Cryptocentrum misasii P.Ortiz & Carnevali. Flower at anthesis, frontal view. Photograph by G. Misas-Urreta.