Lepanthes astraea S.V.Uribe & B.T.Larsen 2014 SUBGENUS Lepanthes SECTION Lepanthes SUBSECTION Lepanthes SERIES Lepanthes
Photo by © Sebastian Viera and his Flickr Photo Web Page
TYPE Drawing by © Sebastian Viera-Uriba and The Epidendra Webpage
LATE
Common Name The Starburst Lepanthes [An allusion to the greek goddess Astrea known as 'The Starburst' and refering to the appearance of the petalos
Flower Size .2" [5 mm]
Found in Antioquia department of Colombia in wet forests margins at elevations around 1950 meters as a mini-miniature sized, cool growing epiphyte with erect, slender ramicauls enveloped by 7 to 10 oblique, slightly dilated, narrowly acuminate lepanthiform sheaths and carrying a single, apical, erect, thickly coriaceous, abaxially purple reticulated, ovate, acuminate tridentate apically, cuneate below into the petiolate base leaf that blooms in the late spring on an erect, filiform peduncle .12 to .2" [3 to 5 mm] long, rachis to .2" [5 mm] long, very congested, distichous, up to 6 successsive racemes each successively singe, many flowered inflorescece with
Similar to L alcicornis 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 and this one that so far is unidentified L sp #59
Synonyms
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ;
Orchids A Colombian Treasure Vol 3 Ortiz & Uribe 2019 photo fide;
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