A reconsideration of the empusellous species of Specklinia (Orchidaceae: Pleurothallidinae) in Costa Rica
Author
Pupulin, Franco
Lankester Botanical Garden, University of Costa Rica, PO Box 302 - 7050 Cartago, Costa Rica; email: franco. pupulin @ ucr. ac. cr Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA & Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, Sarasota, Florida, USA
Author
Karremans, Adam P.
Lankester Botanical Garden, University of Costa Rica, PO Box 302 - 7050 Cartago, Costa Rica; email: franco. pupulin @ ucr. ac. cr Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA & Naturalis Biodiversity Center - NHN Leiden University, The Netherlands
Author
Gravendeel, Barbara
Naturalis Biodiversity Center - NHN Leiden University, The Netherlands
text
Phytotaxa
2012
2012-08-22
63
1
1
20
http://biotaxa.org/Phytotaxa/article/view/phytotaxa.63.1.1
journal article
10.11646/phytotaxa.63.1.1
1179-3163
5061903
Specklinia spectabilis
(Ames & C.Schweinf.) Pupulin & Karremans
,
comb. nov.
Basionym
:
Pleurothallis spectabilis
Ames & Schweinfurth (1925: 34)
.
Type
:
PANAMA
.
Veraguas
:
Santa Fé
,
Feb. 1924
,
1500 ft
,
Powell 382
(
holotype
,
AMES
!; isotype,
MO
; photo of type,
AMES
!)
.
Epiphytic, caespitose, erect herb to
18 cm
tall. Roots fibrous, flexuous, glabrous, to
1 mm
in diameter. Stem abbreviated, terete-subcomplanate, slender, monophyllous,
1.2–1.5 cm
long, covered by a glumaceous, adpressed, obtuse sheath, becoming dry-papyraceous with age and eventually dissolving. Leaf narrowly oblanceolate, minutely retuse, subcoriaceous, 11.5–16.5×
1.2–1.7 cm
, the adaxial midvein protruding at apex into a small apicule, gradually tapering toward the base into a strongly conduplicate-channeled, ancipitous petiole to
3.5 cm
long. Inflorescence produced laterally from the apex of the stem, with an annulus, born from a small, papyraceous, spathaceous bract to
4 mm
long, erect to arching, distichous, congested, successively many-flowered (to 23+) raceme, to
36 cm
long; peduncle flattened, ancipitous, to
28 cm
long, provided with 3 distant, tubular-amplectent, ancipitous, acute bracts to
9 mm
long; rachis complanate, gently fractiflex. Floral bracts broadly ovate, acute, strongly flattened, abaxially ancipitous, apically shortly recurved-subuncinate in lateral view, 10×
6 mm
. Pedicel cylindric, glabrous, to
11 mm
long, persistent. Ovary cylindric-subclavate,
4 mm
long, green. Flowers orange, sepals semi-hyaline at the base, tinged orange along the veins, column yellow. Sepals densely papillose adaxially except at the base, where they become semi-hyaline; dorsal sepal erect, triangular-lanceolate, acute, 5-veined, slightly concave at the base, inner surface densely papillose on the distal two-thirds, papillae extending almost to the base along the thickened margins, base semi-hyaline, the veins flushed with orange, 18.4–20.2×
4.8–5.2 mm
; lateral sepals semigeniculate, born subparallele and then twisted outwards, lanceolate-subfalcate, triveined, subacuminate, ending into a short mucro, margins slightly revolute, 18.0–18.4×
3.6–4.1 mm
, connate at the base for ca.
5 mm
to form a deeply saccate mentum around the column foot, base hyaline, ribbed abaxially along veins, then densely papillose, the midvein strongly carinate externally. Petals ligulate-falcate, acute, porrect, papillose at the concave apex, abruptly contracting into a mucro, univeined, 4.1–4.5×0.8–1.0 mm. Lip longitudinally arched-convex in natural position, thinly articulate with the column foot by a hyaline claw, rectangular-subpandurate when expanded, truncate, with a small apicule, 4.9–5.2×
1.5–1.6 mm
, provided with a pair of thin, erect keels arising from the middle margin and gently converging close to the apex, central portion with a shallow groove between the keels. Column semiterete, arched,
4.5 mm
long without the foot, central portion expanded into broad, membranaceous, semihyaline wings, upper margin denticulate, clinandrium deeply lacerate-dentate; column foot stout, forward-projecting, incurved, slightly grooved at the base, ca. 2.0 mm long. Anther cap ovatesubquadrate, deeply cucullate, 2-celled. Pollinia 2, obovate-complanate, the subhyaline base contracted into a small hook. Immature fruit a green capsule, narrowly obovate, glabrous, with six crests, three taller, thus appearing triangular,
18 mm
long,
10 mm
wide at its widest point, just below the apex.
FIGURE 10
.
Specklinia spectabilis
(Ames) Pupulin & Karremans. A. Habit. B. Flower. C. Dissected
perianth. D. Petals. E. Column and lip, side view. F. Lip, front and side views. G. Column, ventral view. H. pollinaria and anther. Drawn by F. Pupulin & E. Winkel from
JBL-02641
(JBL-spirit).
FIGURE 11
. Distribution map of
Specklinia spectabilis
.
Other material examined:—
MEXICO
.
Chiapas
:
Soto
9484
(
AMO
)
.
NICARAGUA
.
Chontales
:
Cerro Oluma
, lower to middle
E
slopes; moist forest in quebradas,
12°18'06"N
085°23'22"W
,
500–700 m
,
30 Jan. 2008
,
Stevens
,
Coronado
,
Montiel
,
Duarte
26820
(
HULE
;
MO
; photograph of flower,
MO
!)
.
COSTA RICA
.
San José
: trail up to water source for guard station in
Parque Nacional Braulio Carrillo
; humid forest,
700–750 m
,
83°57’ N
-
10°06’ W
.
16/II/1984
,
Chase
84218
(CR-98483!; CR-98381!; K-spirit);
Bajo de la Hondura
:
Parque Nacional Braulio Carrillo
, floreció en el
JBL
16-XII-1993
,
Mora
s.n.
(
USJ
!)
;
Vasquez de Coronado
:
Parque Nacional Braulio Carrillo
,
Sendero la Botella
,
10°10’00” N
83°57’20” W
,
750m
,
21 Sept. 1990
,
Ingram
559 &
Ferrell
(
USJ
!;
INB
!)
;
Limón
:
Pococí
,
Guapiles
,
Reserva Teleférico
del bosque lluvioso, parque atlántico,
10°10’24.5” N
–
83°54’48.3” W
,
546 m
,
14 Oct. 2008
,
Quesada 2729
,
Serrano
&
Volio
(
CR
!)
;
Heredia
:
Estación Carillo
de 700 a
450 m
.
de la Fila Cañón
del
R
.
Sucio
, bosque muy húmedo tropicaltransición a premontano,
12/11/1983
,
Chacón
1716 &
Herrera
(CR-108241!);
Parque Nacional Braulio Carrillo
,
Bajo de La Hondura
, recolector desconocido, sin fecha, floreció en el
JBL
el
26 Oct. 2000
,
Blanco
1653
(
USJ
!)
;
Parque Nacional Braulio Carillo
,
Río Sucio
,
1350 m
,
10 Oct. 2001
,
Bosch
s.n.
(
USJ
!)
;
Pococí
:
Parismina
, recolectada por
Gerson Villalobos
, floreció en cultivo en
el Jardín Botánico Lankester
,
30 Octubre 2009
,
Bogarín
7401
(JBL-Spirit!); same locality and data,
Bogarín
7403
(JBL-spirit!)
;
Alajuela
:
Potrerillos
,
Piedades de San Ramón
,
1150m
,
6/XII/1922
,
Brenes
495
(
CR
!)
;
Piedades de San Ramón
,
1100 m
,
26/X/1925
,
Brenes
273
(
1458
) (
CR
!)
;
without collection data, flowered in cultivation at
Lankester Botanical Garden
,
JBL- 02643
(JBL-spirit!,
CR
!)
;
flowered in cultivation at
Lankester Botanical Garden
,
JBL-02641
(JBL-spirit!) (
Fig. 5
,
10
); flowered in cultivation at
Lankester Botanical Garden
,
JBL-02535
(JBL-spirit!); flowered in cultivation at
Lankester Botanical Garden
,
JBL-02532
(JBL-spirit!)
.
Distribution:—
Southern Mexico (Chiapas) to central
Panama
, mostly along the Caribbean watershed, at 450-1350 meters (
Fig. 11
).
Ames described
Pleurothallis spectabilis
from Central
Panama
, comparing it with
P. pfavii
and its synonym,
P. platyrachis
, and distinguishing it by the truncate-retuse lip, and dentate wing of the column (
Ames & Schweinfurth 1925
). The short rhizome, congested inflorescence with floral bracts shorter than pedicels, and apiculate-mucronate petals are diagnostic of the species.
We accept here populations from
Nicaragua
as belonging to
S. spectabilis
, even though the available material is scanty and illustrations somewhat confused. The plant illustrated by
Hamer (1984)
from
Nicaragua
and supposedly based on
Stevens & Hahn 18980
(MO) is actually a mix of that collection and the flower from a specimen from
El Salvador
, previously illustrated under
Hamer
482
in his series on orchids of
El Salvador
(
Hamer 1981
). Whereas the size of the cespitose plant, floral bracts shorter than pedicels, truncate lip and serrulate column-wings are apparently consistent with the concept treated here as
S. spectabilis
, the petals of both specimens illustrated from
El Salvador
and
Nicaragua
are not mucronate, but instead acute and roundedinvolute, respectively. It may well be that populations from
El Salvador
on the Pacific watershed of Central America continental division represent a still undescribed taxon. On the other hand, photographs of flowers of
Stevens 26820
(MO), also from
Nicaragua
, are consistent with
S. spectabilis
. Finally, the presence in
Mexico
of
S. spectabilis
(
Solano & Soto 2008
)
confirms that this taxon reaches the northernmost distribution for the group and strengthens our interpretation of intermediate populations as belonging to this species.