Specklinia glandulosa (Ames) Pridgeon & Chase (2001: 257)

Karremans, Adam P., Bogarín, Diego, Pupulin, Franco, Luer, Carlyle A. & Gravendeel, Barbara, 2015, The glandulous Specklinia: morphological convergence versus phylogenetic divergence, Phytotaxa 218 (2), pp. 101-127 : 116

Specklinia glandulosa (Ames) Pridgeon & Chase (2001: 257) .

Basionym: Pleurothallis glandulosa Ames (1923: 60) .

Type :— PANAMA. Juan Grande range, sea level, C. W. Powell 306 (holotype, AMES!; isotypes, AMES!, MO!; Fig. 9 ) .

Epiphytic, caespitose, ascending, erect herb to 2.5 cm tall (excluding the inflorescence). Roots fibrous, flexuous, glabrous. Stem abbreviated, terete, to 5 mm long, completely concealed by papyraceous, subancipitous, acute sheaths. Leaf narrowly linear, up to 18–21 × 1.5–2.0 mm, gradually tapering toward the base into a deeply conduplicate petiole, subcoriaceous. Inflorescence borne laterally from the apex of the stem, without an annulus, successively single flowered, up to 3.5 cm long, glandular; peduncle terete, with 1 distant, glandular, terete bract. Floral bracts infundibuliform, glandular, broadly ovate, acute. Pedicel terete, glandular, 4 mm long, persistent. Ovary terete. Flowers 1 (probably up to a few with time) per inflorescence, Pompeian red. Sepals fleshy, densely glandulose in the outer surface; dorsal sepal narrowly lanceolate, 3-veined, acute, 8.0 × 1.5 mm; lateral sepals linear-lanceolate, subfalcate, 3-veined, 8.0 × 1.0 mm, connate to below the middle, the base saccate, the apex acute, the veins strongly carinate abaxially. Petals small, ligulate-falcate, acute, 3 × 1.5 mm, 2-veined. Lip small, longitudinally arched-convex in natural position, thinly articulate with the column foot by a hyaline claw, subpandurate from a cordate-sagittate base when expanded, obtuse, 3.5 × 1 mm, provided with a pair of acute, triangular lateral lobes from just below to just above the middle, margin dentate-erose, especially apically. Column arched, terete and slender at the base, 2 mm long without the foot, provided with membranous wings, margins irregular, the apex prolonged into a deeply cucullate, dentate clinandrium; column foot, stout, fleshy. * NOTE: Description adapted from the protologue.

Additional material: — COSTA RICA. Puntarenas: Along N fork (known locally as “Quebrada Mona”) of Quebrada Bonita, Carara reserve , 9º47’N 84º36’W, elev. 35–40 m, epiphytic on branch of large fallen tree in primary forest, 31 August 1985, Grayum, Warner, Sleeper & Phelps 5939 ( MO!). Without specific collection data, cultivated by Gerson Villalobos, flowered 29 August 2014, Karremans 6306 (JBL-spirit!; Fig. 1e , 2c & 10 ) . PANAMA. Herrera: Distrito de Las Minas, alrededor del primer Ciclo de Chepo, ca. 900 m, 7º43’N 80º50’O, bosque nuboso, 29 September 1994, Galdames, Montenegro, Chung & Valdez 1758 ( PMA!). Chepo de las Minas, Walter 78-1518, flowered in cultivation at SEL, 29 April 1980, Luer 5237 [ SEL!; illustration by Luer (2006)!]. 18 km W of Las Minas , N slope of Cerro Alto Higo ; 2,400 –3,000 ft. (known locally as el Montoso); 6 August 1978, Hammel 4289 ( MO!). Veraguas: Coiba, Parque Nacional Coiba , afluente del río Santa Clara , orilla del río, 24 July 2005, Ibáñez & Núñez 4342 ( PMA!). Panama: Cerro Azul , near Goofy Lake , 24 August 1960, Ebinger 984 ( MO!). Los Santos: Loma Prieta , Cerro Grande , alt. 2,400–2,800 ft. Cloud forest and disturbed margins, 8 June 1967, Lewis, Baker, MacBryde & Oliver 2214 ( MO!) .

Etymology: —The name comes from the Latin glandula meaning “diminutive of gland”, referring to the conspicuous presence of small glands covering most floral parts and inflorescence.

Distribution: —Known only from Costa Rica and Panama, from around sea level to up to 900 m ( Fig. 13 ).

Notes: —The name Specklinia glandulosa has been applied to most of the species treated here at some point. Nevertheless, it can be recognized by the extremely long inflorescence in relation to the leaf (close to twice the length). The sepals are relatively long and narrow in comparison with S. alajuelensis , S. pertenuis and S. vittariifolia . Although it can produce more than a single flower per inflorescence with time, these are closely placed (sub-fascicled), and the species normally appear to have a single flowered inflorescence.

In Costa Rica this species seems to be restricted to the lowlands of the Central and South Pacific, and it is apparently seen very rarely. Most known specimens are from Central Panama.

Figures

FIGURE 1. The glandulous Specklinia species. A. S. alajuelensis 1 (Karremans 3265). B. S. alajuelensis 2 (Bogarín 2895). C. S. chontalensis (Pupulin 6543). D. S. gersonii (Karremans 6025). E. S. glandulosa (Karremans 6306). F. S. vittariifolia (Karremans 2945). Photographs by A.P. Karremans.

FIGURE 2. Comparison of the habits and flowers of species of the glandulous species of Specklinia. A. S. alajuelensis 1 (Karremans 3265). B. S. gersonii (Karremans 6025). C. S. glandulosa (Karremans 6306). D. S. vittariifolia (Karremans 2945). Scale bar = 1 cm. Photographs by A.P. Karremans.

FIGURE 9. Type illustration of Specklinia glandulosa (Ames) Pridgeon & M.W.Chase, published by Ames (1923). Reproduced with the kind permission of the Orchid Herbarium of Oakes Ames, the Harvard University Herbaria.

FIGURE 10. Specklinia glandulosa (Ames) Pridgeon & M.W.Chase.A. habit. B. flower. C. dissected perianth. D. column and lip, lateral view. E. lip. F. anther and pollinaria. Drawn by A.P. Karremans & L. Oses from Karremans 6306 (JBL-spirit).

FIGURE 13. Extract of the distribution map of the glandulous species of Specklinia, with emphasis on Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama. Edited by D. Bogarín.