Lepanthes alcicornis Luer & R.Escobar 1984 SUBGENUS Lepanthes SECTION Lepanthes SUBSECTION Lepanthes SERIES Lepanthes
Photos by © Sebastian Vieira and his Flickr Orchid Photo website
TYPE Drawing by © Carl Luer and his Amer. Orchid Soc. Bull. 53: 368 Luer & Escobar 1984
Common Name The Elk Antlered Lepanthes
Flower Size .08" [2mm]
Found in Antioquia department of Colombia at elevations around 2300 meters as a mini-miniature sized, cold growing epiphyte with slender, erect ramicauls enveloped by 10 to 12 lepanthiform sheaths with dilated, short ciliate ostia and carrying a single, apical, erect, coriaceous, more or less suffused with red, ovate, acute, acuminate, cuneate and contracted below into the petiolate base leaf that and blooms in the winter through spring on a congested, distichous, filiform, 2.2" [5.5 cm] long, successively many flowered inflorescence arising on top of the leaf.
Similar to L astreae in both having the same petals with bifurcate lobes and a lip more or less ellitical-cordate that embrace the column. L astreae differs in the much smaller flowers, the lobes of the petals deeply incised and a subcordate, deeply incised for the apex that does not embrace the column.
Also similar to L culex
"This species is one of a group characterized by a cordate lip with a round cleft apex. It is closely related to L culex with which it grows sympatrically. Vegetatively L culex is larger than L alcicornis. The petals of L culex are 2 pronged and L alcicornis are 4 pronged. Also similar to L astraea and this one that so far is unidentified L sp #59
Synonyms
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; * Amer. Orchid Soc. Bull. 53: 368 Luer & Escobar 1984 Drawing/photo fide; Orquideologia 31 # 1 Pg 5 Sebastián Vieira-Uribe and Bruno Larsen 2010 drawing/photo fide; AOS Bulletin Vol 53 No 4 1984 pg 368 photo/drawing fide; Native Colombian Orchids Vol 5 COS 1994 photo fide; Icones Pleurothallidinarum Vol XXXII 2012 drawing fide; Orchids A Colombian Treasure Vol 3 Ortiz & Uribe 2019 photo fide;
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