Trichocentrum costaricense Mora-Ret. & Pupulin 1994 SECTION Saccatae Senghas Photo by © Diego Bogarin and The Epidendra Website

EARLIER

Common Name The Costa Rican Lockhartia

Flower Size .8" [2 cm]

Found in Alajuela Costa Rica at elevations around 700 meters as a mini-miniature sized, warm growing epiphyte with fleshy obovate-elliptic to elliptic-lanceolate, acute, basally clasping leaves that blooms in the fall through early winter on a lateral, basal, racemose, terete, green, .8 to 1.2" [2 to 3 cm] long, 2 to 3 flowered inflorescence with short, distichous, ovate, cucullate, acute bracts.

Text By Mora-Ret. & Pupulin "A plant of this species was collected by Clarence K. Horich in 1988 near Ciudad Quesada, in the San Carlos plain. The plant was grown in the Lankester Botanical Garden and identified as T. capistratum. A photograph of the flower was deposited at University of Costa Rica, where it was catalogued under the name, Trichocentrum aff. panamense. However, when all the material in cultivation at Lankester Garden was revised for the present study, the plant collected by Horich proved to be different. T. costaricense differs from T. capistratum, as well as from its closely allied T. caloceras, in the diminutive size of the leaves, their rounded shape, the fine purple spotting of the lip and, more clearly, in the decurrent, obtuse, subfalcate wings of the column. T. capistratum invariably shows a white lip, with only two to four blotches at the conjunction of the lip with the column base. Further, its column wings are much shorter, porrect and acute to slightly apiculate. The only other Costa Rican species with purple lip color is T. caloceras, which has an obovate-subpandurate lip, revolute margins of the column wings and glabrous anther cap."

Synonyms

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; Lankester's Epidendra Website CR ; *Selbyana 15(2): 94-96, f. 5. 1994 Mora-Retana and Pupulin Drawing fide; Fieldiana Biology, Flora Costa Ricensis Family # 39 Orchidaceae, subtribes Maxillariinae and Oncidiinae Atwood & Mora 1999 drawing fide; Rudolf Schlechter Die Orchideen Band 1C lieferung 44-45 pg 2763 - 2898 Brieger 2001; Manual de Plantas de Costa Rica Vol 3 Hammel, Grayum, Herrera and Zamora 2003;

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