Lepanthes ferax Luer & R.Escobar 1991 SUBGENUS Lepanthes SECTION Lepanthes SUBSECTION Breves Luer 1986 SERIES Breves Luer 1996
TYPE Photo by Rodrigo Escobar/TYPE Drawing by © Carl Luer and The Epidendra Webpage
Photo by © The Orquideas Nativo de Santander Webpage
LATER
Common Name The Fertile Lepanthes [refers to the numerous capsules produced by this species]
Flower Size .08" [2 mm]
Found in Cundinamarca, Antioquia and Choco' departments of Colombia at elevations around 2600 to 2900 meters as a mini-miniature sized, cold growing epiphyte with more or less stout, erect ramicauls enveloped by 5 to 8, close microscopically scabrous lepanthiform sheaths and carrying a single, apical, erect, coriaceous, purple suffused beneath, narrowly ovate, acute, cuneate below into the petiolate base leaf that blooms in the spring on a filiform, loose, erect, congested, distichous, .4 to .64" [1 to 1.6 cm] long, successively single, few flowered inflorescence.
Luer states that this species is most often found cleistogamus and an open fertile flower is rare, this explains the high capsule rate.
!!!!!!!!!!CAUTION The photo above by The Orquideas Nativo de Santander Webpage is suspect, not enough detail is visible to be sure of the determination and the photo was taken in Santander so if this is correct it is a new departmental determination. I await a better photo. The type Photo and Drawing are absolutely correct.
Synonyms
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; *Orquideología 18(1): 48. Luer & Escobar 1991 drawing fide; Native Colombian Orchids Vol 5 COS 1994 photo fide; Icones Pleurothallidinarum Vol XXXII Luer 2012 drawing fide; Orchids A Colombian Treasure Vol 3 Ortiz & Uribe 2019 drawing/photo fide;
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