Pleurothallis juvenilis Rodr.-Mart. & Karremans 2017 SUBGENUS Ancipitia SECTION Ancipitia SUBSECTION Scopula in ed.
Photo/TYPE Drawing by L. Rodríguez-Martínez & C. Rincón-Useche
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Common Name The Youthful Pleurothallis [an allusion to the discrete, pale flowers fully covered by minuscule pinkish spots, as if the face of an introvert youth]
Flower Size .2" [5mm]
Found in Valle de Cauca department of Colombia on the eastern side of the Cordillera Occidental in cloud forests at elevations of 1850 to 1900 meters as a medium sized, cool growing epiphyte with erect, thin, 4 angled ramicauls enveloped by tubular, close to the base, papyraceous bracts and carrying a single, apical, suberect, coriaceous, green sometimes suffused with broadly-elliptic, acute, apiculate, and with a small mucron, sessile base leaf that blooms in the spring and again in the late fall on a subfascile of 5 to 10, single flowered peduncles.
"The main feature used to set aside species of Pleurothallis subgen. Scopula has been the emergence of the inflorescence well above the leaf base. In most species the inflorescence emerges close to the apex of the narrow leaf, In Pleurothallis juvenilis the congested, subfascicled inflorescence emerges from the middle of a broad leaf. Such a habit is found in two other species, P. cosmetron Luer and P. silverstonei Luer. The latter is most likely the closest relative of P. juvenilis, but the new species can be distinguished the sub-acuminate petals (vs. acute-acuminate), and especially by the much shorter lip .6 to .72" vs .24" [1.5 to 1.8 vs. 6 mm] long) that does not extend beyond the column (vs. at least double the column length). From P. cosmetron it is easily distinguished by the obtuse sepals (vs. acute, long-acuminate), the broad, elliptic, shortly apiculate petals (vs. ovate, long acuminate), and the column the protrudes beyond the lip apex (vs. column much shorter than the lip)." Rodr.-Mart & Karremans 2017
Synonyms
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ;
* LANKESTERIANA 17(2): 253 Rodr.-Mart. & Karremans 2017 photo/drawing fide;
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