Platystele carl-lueriana Karremans & Bogarín 2017
Photo by Bogarin/Drawing by Karremans & Ramirez
LATE
Common Name Carl Luer's Platstele [American botanist and Pleurothallid expert Died 2019]
Flower Size .08" [2 mm]
Found in Limon province of Costa Rica growing in secondary forests at elevations around 457 meters as a mini-miniature sized, hot growing, caespitose epiphyte with slender, erect, abbreviated ramicauls enveloped by tubular, imbricating, slightly compressed, membraneous sheaths and carrying a single, apical, coriaceous, narrowly elliptic to ligulate, condupliate, subacute, emarginate, abaxially keeled, terminating in a short apiculus, conduplicate below into the conspicuous, petiolate base leaf that blooms in the late summer on distichous, congested, peduncle .0432" [1.8 mm] long, .88" [2.2 cm] long overall, successively single, few flowered inflorescence with acute, conduplicate, much shorter than the pedicel floral bracts.
"The new species is a member of the Platystele oxyglossa species complex. It can be easily distinguished from the florally similar P. catiensis and P. oxyglossa Schltr. by the compact inflorescence that barely exceeds the leaf (versus an elongate, loosely flowered inflorescence). The most vegetatively similar species are P. pedicellaris (Schltr.) Garay and P. tausensis, the first is easily distinguished by the shorter plants and larger flowers with the sepals .068 to .08" x .04 to .044" [1.7 to 2.0 × 1.0 to 1.1 mm] vs up to .24 x .08" [6 × 2.0 mm], and the second by the purple stained sepals and petals vs. yellow-green and the hirsute lip apex vs. glabrous. The new species is also somewhat reminiscent of P. propinqua (Ames) Garay , but differs in the narrow, acuminate lateral sepals, petals and lip vs. lateral sepals and lip ovate and acute." Karremans and Bogarin 2017
Synonyms
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; * LANKESTERIANA 17(2): 215 Karremans and Bogarin 2017 photo/drawing fide; Vanishing Beauty, Native Costa Rican Orchids Vol 2 Lacaena to Pteroglossa Pupulin 2020 photo fide
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