Brachionidium minusculum Luer & Dressler 1995
Photos by © Bogarin, Used under permission of Epidendra Website CR
TYPE Drawing by © Carl Luer
Common Name The Very Small Brachionidium
Flower Size 3/8" [.9 cm]
Found in Cartago province of Costa Rica at elevations around 1250 meters as a mini-miniature sized, cool growing epiphyte with a long-repent rhizome giving rise to a short ramicaul enveloped by 3 shortly mucronate sheaths and carrying a single, apical, erect, thickly coriaceous, elliptical, obtuse and minutely forked and apiculate at the apex, 5 veined, cuneate below into the base leaf that blooms in the winter on an erect, arising from near the apex of the ramicaul, 1.4" [3.5mm] long, single flowered inflorescence with an infundibular, acute, apiculate, as long as the ovary floral bract and a translucent white resupinate flower.
"Similar to Brachionidium pusillum but differs in the purple vs yellow flowers, the microscopically sparsely ciliate dorsal sepals and the synsepala and petals are glabrous vs the sepals and petals being shortly ciliate. The lateral angles of the tiny .04" [1 mm] wide lip are falcate. The lip of B pusillum is 3 times wider with large, acaute, triangular lateral lobes." Luer 1995
Synonyms
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; Lankester's Epidendra Website CR ; *Icones Icones Pleurothallidinarum Vol XII Systematics of Brachionidium Luer 1995 drawing fide; ; Manual De Plantas de Costa Rica Volumen III Hammel, Grayum, Herrera and Zamora 2003 drawing fide; Vanishing Beauty, Native Costa Rican Orchids Vol 1 Pupulin 2005 photo fide
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