Caucaea kunthiana Medina, Portilla and Hirtz 2019
LCDP/TYPE Drawing by Hugo Medina
Common Name Kunth's Caucaea [German botanist 1800's]
Flower Size .68 to .92" [1.7 to 2.3 cm]
Found in Azuay and Canar province of Ecuador in cold secondary cloud forests at elevations of 3000 to 3500 meters as a small sized, cold growing epiphyte with a cylindrical pseudobulb enveloped by 4 imbricating leaf sheaths and carrying a single, apical, coriaceous, lanceolate, conduplicate, olive green, glabrous, narrowing below into the base leaf that blooms in the fall and winter on an erect, basal, arising on a developing to mature pseudobulb, racemose to paniculate, 8.64 to 12" [21.6 to 30 cm] long, simultaneously 4 to 5 flowered inflorescence with lanceolate, truncate floral bracts and carrying fragrant flowers.
Similar to C andigena but the new species can be distinguished by the sepal, petal, lip and column morphology. The new species has flat tepals with an entire margin that are greenish brown in color, the lip is pyriform in shape amd has revolute margins of the disc portion that forms a tube, a callus with 3 crests and the white color with pinkish spots. The column is longer and narrower and a clear pinkish color with basal wings that are white with a green margin. C andigena has the tepals undulate and yellow in color with broad reddish spots, the lip is subpyriform and has a weakly revolute disc margin that does not form a tube and a callus with 2 crests and yellow in color with reddish spots and the column is white spotted with pink and the basal wings are white spotted with pink.
Synonyms
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; *AOS Bulletin Vol 88 #11 2019 photo/drawing fide;
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