Lepanthes dikoensis Bogarín & C.M.Sm. 2012 SUBGENUS Lepanthes SECTION Lepanthes SUBSECTION Lepanthes SERIES Lepanthes

TYPE Drawing

Photo/TYPE Drawing by © Diego Bogarin and the Epidendra Website

LATE MID

Common Name The Diko Lepanthes [the district of Pejibaye de Jimenez pet name]

Flower Size .16" [4 mm]

Found in Puntarenas province of Costa Rica in secondary premontane wet forest on the Atlantic watershed of Cordillera de Talamanca, at elevations around 1000 to 1200 meters as a miniature sized, cool growing epiphyte with more or less descending ramicauls enveloped by 11 to 21, ciliate lepanthiform sheaths with the ciliate ostia markedly dilated and carrying a single, coriaceous, green, elliptic, subobovate, acuminate with a short apiculus, cuneate and narrowing below into the petiolate nase leaf that blooms in the late spring through mid fall on a racemose, distichous, arising on the top of the leaf, shorter than the leaf, peduncle .6 to .8" [1.5 to 2 cm] long, 1.2" [3 cm] long overall, rachis .6 to .4" [.5 to 1 cm] long, successively single flowered inflorescence with lightly ciliate, shorter than the ovary floral bracts.

It is similar to L. viridis but differs in the smaller leaves up to 1.6" [4 cm] long (vs. longer, to 2.4" [6 cm ] long), smaller flowers to .228 [5.7 mm] in diameter (vs. to .048" [12 mm]), petals glabrous-minutely pubescent (vs. ciliate-hispid), the lower lobe ovate, falcate, shorter than the lobes of the lip (vs. lanceolate, subfalcate, as long as the lobes of the lip), both lobes yellow with red-orange and scarlet (vs. green with red at base) the lip scarlet, apically yellowish (vs. green with dark red at the base of each lobe), the appendix oblong (vs. rounded). It is also similar to L. ovalis but differs in the pendent plants (vs. erect to suberect), smaller mature leaves 1.6 x .6" [4 × 1.5 cm] (vs. 2.4 x .92" [6 × 2.3 cm]), ramicauls with ciliate sheaths and ostia (vs. minutely ciliate-scabrous), the petals glabrous (vs. the upper lobe glabrous, the lower minutely pubescent), the upper lobe oblong, apically rounded (vs. suborbicular), lower lobe of the petals lunate, strongly falcate (vs. narrowly triangular, subfalcate), the color of flowers, the sepals orange (vs. yellow), the lower lobe of petals basally scarlet with the apex yellow-orange (vs. yellow-orange, without the scarlet stain), and the appendix narrowly oblong (vs. a small, rounded lobule." Bogarin & C M Sm. 2012

Synonyms

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; * Journal of the Botanical Research Institute of Texas 6(2 362 Bogarin & C M Sm. 2012 drawing/photo fide; Vanishing Beauty, Native Costa Rican Orchids Vol 2 Lacaena to Pteroglossa Pg 449 Pupulin 2020 photo/drawing fide;

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