Pleurothallis aloisii Schltr. 1921 SUBGENUS Crocodeilanthe [Rchb.f & Warsc.]Luer 1986
Drawing by © Carl Luer and The Swiss Orchid Foundation at the Jany Renz Herbaria Website
Common Name Alois' Pleurothallis [Ecuadorian Priest Father Aloysius Sodiro 1900's]
Flower Size .2" [5 mm]
Found in Napo province of Ecuador in subandean forests at lower elevations as a medium sized, warm growing, densely caespitose epiphyte with slender, erect ramicauls with a loose, tubular sheath below the middle and another at the base and carrying a single, apical, erect, coriaceous, ligulate, obtuse, gradually narrowing below into the subpetiolate base leaf that blooms in the summer on an erect, arising through a compressed spathe, to 12" [30 cm] long, including the peduncle to 6" [15 cm] long, sublax, subsecund, simultaneously many flowered inflorescence with a cucullate floral bract.
"That this species belongs in Crocodielanthe is not absolutely certain, as Schlechter's type was destroyed in Berlin during WWII and no herbarium specimens survive. The densely caespitose habit with large, cauline sheeaths, narrowly elliptic leaf, ling-many flowered inflorescence, obtuse obovate petals and a cavity at the base of the lip below a curved callus, strongly suggest this subgenus. The fleshy, entire, oblong lip that is verrucose alongthe margins is unusual for this subgenus." Luer 1998
Synonyms Crocodeilanthe aloisii (Schltr.) Luer 2004; Stelis aloisii (Schltr.) Pridgeon & M.W.Chase 2001;
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ;
*Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. Beih. 8: 57 Schlechter 1921
Icones Pleurothallidinarum Vol XVI Systemics of Pleurothallis SUBGEN Crocodeilanthe, Rhynchopera and Talpinaria Luer 1998 drawing fide;
Lindleyana Vol 16 No 4:261 Pridgeon & Chase 2001 as Stelis aloisii;
Icones Pleurothallidinarum Vol XXVI Pleurothallis subgenus Acianthera and Three Allied subgenera, A Second Century of new Species of Stelis of Ecuador, Epibator, Ophidion and Zootrophion Luer 2004 as Crocodeilanthe aloisii;
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