Lepanthes peltata Thoerle & Hirtz 2015 SECTION Lepanthes SUBSECTION Lepanthes SERIES Elongatae 1993
Photos by © Alexander Hirtz
TYPE Drawing by © Lisa Thoerleand Phytotaxa 201 (1) 55 © Thoerle & Hirtz 2015
LATER
Common Name The Sheild-Shaped Lepanthes [refers to the laminae shape of the lip
Flower Size .16" [4 mm]
Found in Zamora-Chinchipe province of Ecuador at elevations around 800 meters as a small sized, warm growing epiphyte with erect to horizontal ramicauls enveloped by 6 to 7, ribbed lepanthiform sheaths withte ribbs and dilated ostia minutely verrucose and carrying a single, apical, erect to nearly horizontal, underside irregularily speckled with darker green, thinly coriaceous, elliptical-obovate, minutely retuse with a minute apiculum, cuneate below into the petiolate base leaf that blooms in the later spring on 1 to 3, suberect to arching to more or less horizontal, peduncle filiform, .24 to .4" [6 to 10 mm] long, arising on either side of the leaf, loose, flexuous, 2.8 to 2.96" [7 to 7.4 cm] long, successively single, to 15 flowered inflorescence with minutely verrucose, acuminateshorter to as long as the pedicel floral bracts.
"Lepanthes peltata would be unremarkable if not for the bladeless lip, with pubescent, shield-shaped laminae draped over the column, the lobes hanging on either side. Other species share a gradually lengthening, elongate inflorescence bearing a more or less concave flower with ovate, shortly acuminate sepals, and narrowly triangular petals. The lip of the widespread L. alticola , is similar, but the sepals are long-acuminate rather than shortly acuminate and up to .28" [7 mm] in length rather than .16" [4 mm], and the upper lobe of the petals is larger than the lower." Thoerle and Hirtz 2015
Synonyms
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; * Phytotaxa 201 (1) 56 © Luer & Thoerle 2015 Drawing/photo fide
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