Myoxanthus cereus (Ames) Luer ex Rojas-Alv. & Karremans 2017 SUBGENUS Myoxanthus SECTION Myoxanthus Luer 1992
LCDP Photo by Adam Karremans & G Rojas Alvarado
LATE
EARLIER
Common Name The Waxy Myoxanthus
Flower Size .4" [1 cm]
Found in Cartago province of Costa Rica growing in lower montane and premontane forests at elevations of 974 to 1800 meters as a medium sized, cool growing subcaespitose, epiphyte with stout, erect, basally thicker ramicauls enveloped by overlapping tubular sheaths and carrying a single, apical, coriaceous, elliptic, acute, cuneate below into the petiolate base leaf that blooms in the late fall through earlier spring on many, from the apex of the ramicaul, appearing successively, several flowering simultaneously, peduncles persistent becoming subfasciculate, .04 to .08" [1 to 2 mm] long, racemose, raceme vestigal, single flowered inflorescence with infundibular, purple trichomes, as long or longer than the pedicel floral bracts.
"Pleurothallis cerea has been commonly placed under the synonymy of M. octomeriae or M. congestus. However, Luer noted differences between the two species, and in 1991 annotated a specimen collected by Endrés from Costa Rica as “M. cereus (Ames) Luer”, a combination that he never published. When Soto (2008) revised the taxonomy of the Mexican Myoxanthus, he reduced M. octomeriae, with all its synonyms, to the synonymy of the older M. congestus, a name based on material from Mexico. However, he also noted the odd features of Pleurothallis cerea, especially in leaf size and shape and lip structure. After studying material of Pleurothallis cerea from Costa Rica, Rojas-Alvarado & Karremans (2017) formally recognized it as a species and transferred it to Myoxanthus. This Central American species is easily distinguished from the closely related M. octomerioides (Mexico), M. congestus (Mexico to Colombia-Venezuela) and Myoxanthus pulvinatus (Peru and Brazil) by its broad, elliptic to ovate petiolate leaves, and oblong, conspicuously adaxially verrucose, frequently apiculate lip vs. narrow elliptic, sessile leaves and lip not apiculate of the other species (Rojas-Alvarado & Karremans 2017)." Rojas-Alvarado, Blanco, & Karremans 2021
Synonyms *Pleurothallis cerea Ames 1923
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ;
* LANKESTERIANA 17(2): 210 Karremans and M Diaz 2017 photo/drawing fide;
Lankesteriana 19(1). 31 - 55 2019 photo fide; Vanishing Beauty, Native Costa Rican Orchids Vol 2 Lacaena to Pteroglossa Pupulin 2020 photo fide;
Pleurothallids Neotropical Jewels Vol 1 Karremans & Viera 2020 photo fide;
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------