Encyclia lopezii Leopardi & Carnevali, 2012

Leopardi, Carlos, Carnevali, Germán & Romero-González, Gustavo A., 2012, Encyclia lopezii (Orchidaceae, Laeliinae) a new species from Venezuela, Phytotaxa 48 (1), pp. 23-28 : 24-27

Encyclia lopezii Leopardi & Carnevali , sp. nov. ( Fig. 1 )

Species haec Encycliae cordigerae et E. diurnae valde affinis . Ab illa differt pedunculis asperrimis et columna alata , ab hac floris colore (tepala purpurea, labello lilacino) et floris magnitudine differt.

Type:–– VENEZUELA. Trujillo: cercanías de La Puerta, collected originally by Ramón López, ex hort., 7 May 2010, G . Carnevali & I. M. Ramírez 7527 (holotype VEN!, isotypes AMES!, AMO!, CICY!, K!) .

Epiphytic herb, 40 cm tall, up to 65 cm including the inflorescence. Rhizome short, tough, fibrous. Pseudobulbs 4.0–5.0 × 2.5–3.0 cm, clustered but shortly creeping, ovoid, apically 2-leaved, green and smooth when young, purplish red tinged and finely wrinkled when old, when young clothed in white papyraceous, non-persistent sheaths. Leaves 20–35 × 2.0– 2.5 cm, narrowly oblong elliptic, somewhat twisted, thick, rigid, midnerve carinate mainly in the lower half. Inflorescences 45–55 cm long, terminal, erect or somewhat arching, a 4–7-flowered raceme or panicle, peduncle thin but fairly strong, upper portion of peduncle, rachis and pedicellate ovaries verrucose, the remainder lightly rough, the verrucae paler than the rest of the peduncle, all of the inflorescence is lightly to heavily tinged with purple. Flowers resupinate, showy, 36–39 mm across the spread apices of the petals; perianth segments fleshy; sepals and petals pale green heavily overlaid with pinkish or purplish maroon, the nerves showing faintly, the margins narrowly but clearly outlined in pale green, the bases and very tips of the segments are almost devoid of the purplish overlay, and are thus pale greenish; the labellum ground color pale lavender to pale pink, with dark purple nerves, the central lobe with 3–5 thicker nerves running down the callus into the apex, the lateral lobes with thick dark purple nerves in the lower half, more distantly a narrow transverse stripe almost devoid of purple tinges and with many fine longitudinal dark purple nerves on the distal half, the callus white or pale pink; column green, grading to white on the distal half, with deep purple-reddish fine points on both faces (denser toward the base); sepals subsimilar but the lateral somewhat oblique, dorsal 23.6–24.0 × 7.5–9.0 mm, oblanceolate, obtuse or broadly acute, lateral sepals: 23–24 × 7.3–9.0 mm, lanceolate, slightly oblique, broadly acute; petals 22.6–23.2 × 7.5– 10.0 mm, narrowly obovate to spathulate, narrowed on the lower half to a narrow claw 2.5 mm wide; labellum conspicuously 3-lobed, free from column except at the base, total labellum length 20.8–22.5 mm, 23.4–26.0 mm across lateral lobes; the central lobe suborbicular-subquadrate, reduplicated in vivo, rounded to subtruncate at apex and base, apex somewhat emarginated, 13.8–14.5 × 14.1–16.6 mm; lateral lobes 14.2– 14.7 mm long, 5.1–5.5 mm wide at mid-length, 5.6–5.7 mm wide at base, oblong to oblong-lanceolate, apically rounded to broadly obtuse, the apices somewhat reflexed in natural position; callus 9.0–10.7 × 3.4– 3.5 mm, subrhombic-elliptic, composed of two broad, high keels running from just above the base of the labellum well (ca. 4.5 mm) into the blade of the central lobe, with a shallow, elliptic depression at midlength between the two keels just where the callus is widest, from the apex of the callus arise three elevated, dark purple nerves that extend almost to the apex of the midlobe. Column 9.9–11.5 × 4.5–5.4 mm, 3.8 mm wide at base, 3.2 mm at its narrowest, 4.7 mm at its highest, hemicylindric to slightly triangular, pandurate-oblong in ventral outline, provided with a pair of triangular-subquadrate auricles on the apical fourth, auricles 1.3 mm long, 1.9 mm broad at the base; anther yellow, 3.4 mm wide, 1.7 mm deep, yellow; pollinia 4, 1.3–1.4 mm long, with yellow caudicles; stigmatic surface ca. 3.3 × 2.5 mm, obovate; pedicellate ovary cylindrical, verrucose, 22–30 mm long. Capsule not seen ( Fig. 1 ).

Discussion: –– Encyclia lopezii is phenetically closest to Encyclia cordigera . They share the large flowers, the broad, suborbicular-subquadrate central lobe of the labellum, and the obovate to spathulate petals. It mainly differs, however, in the subapically winged column with straight margins, the verrucose pedicellate ovary, and the apices of the lateral lobes not overlapping on top of the column at anthesis.

At the type locality, Encyclia lopezii is sympatric with E. cordigera and an Andean form of E. diurna ( Jacquin 1790: 107) Schlechter (1919: 74) , both shown in Fig. 2. From E. diurna it is easily distinguished by its larger flowers with broader midlobe of a pale lavender to pale pink color. The pedicellate ovary of E. diurna is more coarsely verrucose than that of E. lopezii , which also has smaller auricles.

FIGURE 2. Comparison between Encyclia cordigera (A–K) and E. diurna (A1–M1). A, A1. Flowers. B, B1. Perianth. C, C1. Column and lip in natural position in dorsal view. D, D1. Lip and column in lateral view. E, E1. Lip and column in ventral view. F, F1. Spread lip. G, G1. Column in ventral view. H, H1. Column in lateral view. I, I1 Anther. J1. Pollinia of E. diurna . J, K1. Pedicellate ovary. K, M1. Habit of the two species. A–K based on Carnevali 7666 (CICY!, VEN!), A1–M1 based on Carnevali 7623 (CICY!, VEN!).

Encyclia lopezii might be a hybrid between the pink-lipped form of E. cordigera and E. diurna , since it appears to be intermediate in several character states. It resembles the former because it has a similar flower texture, color pattern in tepals and labellum, as well as absence of warts on the rachis. Encyclia lopezii shares with E. diurna the callus architecture, the presence and shape of the auricles (column wings), the magenta longitudinal lines in the labellum central lobe (not the purple spot commonly seems in E. cordigera ), and the presence of warts in the pedicellate ovary (for comparisons see Fig. 1 –2). We hesitate to propose this entity as a nothospecies at this time since it is fairly common in nature, as opposed to most orchid natural hybrids that tend to occur as isolated individuals among populations of the putative parental species. It is also known from at least two different localities. We intend to explore this hypothesis further: as a first approximation, we will attempt to analyze DNA sequences of E. lopezii to place it within our phylogenetic analyses of the genus looking for incongruences between nuclear and plastid sequences.

Furthermore, Encyclia lopezii is phenetically similar to E. spiritusanctensis Menezes (1991: 23) from SE Brazil, but it is easily distinguished because the plants of the Brazilian species are more robust with broader leaves (ca. 3.5 cm vs. 2.5 cm in E. lopezii ). Moreover, the flowers are larger (4–5 cm across the spread apices of the petals vs. 3.5–4 cm in E. lopezii ) with proportionally much broader petals. Plants of Encyclia spiritusanctensis are lithophytic whereas those of E. lopezii are epiphytic. Our preliminary phylogenetic analyses indicate that Encyclia species group in assemblages restricted to particular biogeographical areas. Also, vegetative patterns are better predictors of phylogenetic relationships than floral morphology, which is highly homoplasious at deeper phylogenetic levels. Thus, it is safe at this time to hypothesize that the Andean Venezuelan and the SE Brazilian species are not closely related and floral similarities are most likely due to evolutionary convergence driven by the use of similar pollinators.

Paratype:–– VENEZUELA. State unknown but possibly Zulia: Maracaibo area ; exact site not recorded, February 1962, G. C. K.Dunsterville 921 ( AMES!, VEN!, flowers, drawing) .

Eponymy:–– This species is named after Ramón López from Barquisimeto, Lara State, Venezuela, who collected and cultivates this taxon; he provided the material upon which this description was partially compiled and that constitutes the type material .

IUCN Conservation assessment:–– EN (Endangered). Encyclia lopezii meets criteria B1a and B2a of the IUCN (2001). It is currently known from only two localities and its extent of occurrence is most likely less than 500 km 2. Of the two known populations, we have a precise locality for only one, which is inside an area that is not under any kind of protection.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Encyclia lopezii Leopardi & Carnevali. A. Flowers. B. Perianth. C. Column and lip in natural position in dorsal view. D. Column and lip in lateral view. E. Spread lip. F. Column in ventral view. G. Column lateral view. H. Anther. I. Pollinarium. J. Inflorescence. K. Habit. Based on the holotype.