Lepanthes rhombipetala Schltr. 1920 SECTION Lepanthes SUBSECTION Lepanthes SERIES Elongatae 1993
Photo by © Sebastian Vieira and his Flickr Orchid Photo Website
Drawing by © Carl Luer
Common Name The Rhomboid Shaped Petal Lepanthes
Flower Size .4" [1 cm]
Found in Antioquia, Cauca and Narino departments of Colombia and Carchi province of Ecuador in subparamo at elevations around 2350 to 2800 meters as a small to medium sized, cold growing terrestrial or low level epiphyte with a stout, erect ramicaul enveloped by 8 to 14, microscopically ciliate-scabrous lepanthiform sheaths and carrying a single, apical, erect, coriaceous, ovate, acute, acuminate, cuneate to rounded below into the petiolate base leaf that blooms in the winter and spring on 1 or more, progressively lengthening, peduncle 2.4 to 4" [6 to 10 cm] long, rachis 2 to 3.6" [5 to 9 cm] long, distichous, successively 2 to 3, many flowered inflorecence with shorter than the ovary floral bracts.
"L rhombipetala, recognized as distinct from L nanegalensis has been treated as a synonym of the later by Luer 1996b, but the 2 are sufficiently different to recognize both. This robust species occurs in southern Colombia and northern Ecuador while L nanegalensis is not known outside of Ecuador. L rhombipetala is characterized by the large zize, ovate-acuminate leaves, and a gradually lengthening, long-lasting, loosely flowered inflorescence that eventually exceeds the leaf, The sepals of the dark colored flowers are acute, and acuminate, the lateral sepals are deeply connate into a narrowly triangular, shortly bifid synsepal. The petals are small and rhomboid, with the opposite lobes short and obtuse. The blades of the lip are narrowly ovate, the connectives are short and cuneateand he minute appendix is delicate and pedunculate with a bi-glandular terminal segment. The flowers of L deliciasensis are also shaped like an elongated diamond, with the dorsal sepal and synsepal nearly identical, but the latter is distinguished by its concave dorsal sepal and petals with the apex of the upper lobe narrow and everted." Luer 2012
Synonyms
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; Orchids, A Colombian Treasure Vol 3 Ortiz & Uribe 2019 drawing fide; Phytotaxa 422 (3) Zambrano 2019 Drawing fide
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