Pleurothallis leucantha Schltr. 1912 SUBGENUS Pleurothallis SECTION Macrophyllae-Fasciclatae Lindl. 1859
Photo courtesy of Andy's Orchids Copyright © 2002 All rights reserved.
Drawing by © Carl Luer and The Swiss Orchid Foundation at the Jany Renz Herbaria Website
Photo by © Weyman Bussey
Photo by © Karl Senghas and The Swiss Orchid Foundation at the Jany Renz Herbaria Website
TYPE Drawing by © Ames and The Epidendra Website
AND AGAIN
Common Name The White Flowered Pleurothallis
Flower Size .2" [5 mm]
Found in Alta Verapaz and Izabal departments of Guatemala at elevations of 950 to 1350 meters as a mini-miniature to small sized, warm to cool growing, caespitose epiphyte with slender, erect to suberect ramicauls with a close, tubular sheath on the lower half and another at the base and carrying a single, apical, suberect to horizontal, coriaceous, narrowly elliptical-ovate, acute, shallowly cordate below into the the sessile base leaf that blooms in the spring and again in the fall on erect, arising and concealed by a spathe, fascile of successively single, few flowered inflorescence with thin, tubular, shorter than the pedicel floral bracts.
"Characterized by the narrowly voate leaf, acute at the apex and shallowly cordate at the base and a small, pale yellow flower. The middle sepal and synsepal are ovate and similar, at most .16" [4 mm] long, The petals are oblong, minutely denticullate and .1" [2.5 mm] long, The lip is thick, subarcuate, shallowly cordate, minutely verrucose and with a shallow glenion. P sanchoi differs in shorter, elliptical, subacute leaves and a larger flower with the sepals about .24" [6 mm] long, and petals about .2" [5 mm] long,. The lip is more deeply cordate with a distinct glenion and not verrucose." Luer 2005
This species can be confused with P correllii and P sanchoi so please check all three to see the differences
CAUTION I am fairly certain that Andy's photo although submited as P matudana is actually P leucantha. The Drawing above is absolutely correct but the photo by Karl Senghas although close, differs in color, leaf size and shape as well as the deep concavity and wide rim to the lip and it was collected in Costa Rica not Guatemala and actually is P sanchoi so please use that photo with great caution. Weyman's photo most likely is correct but because it is not in focus I cannot be positive.
Synonyms Acronia leucantha (Schltr.) Luer 2005; Zosterophyllanthos leucanthus (Schltr.) Szlach. & Marg. 2001
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ;
* Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg 10(254-256): 353. Schltr. 1912
Orchids of Guatemala and Belize Ames & Correll 1952;
Icones Pleurothallidinarum Vol III Systematics of Pleurothallis Luer 1986;
Manual de Plantas de Costa Rica Vol 3 Hammel, Grayum, Herrera and Zamora 2003;
Icones Pleurothallidinarum Vol XXVII Systematics of Dryadella Systematics of Macrophyllae-Fasciculatae Luer 2005 as Acronia leucantha
Icones Pleurothallidinarum Vol XXVII Systematics of Dryadella Systematics of Macrophyllae-Fasciculatae Luer 2005 as Acronia leucantha drawing fide;
Algunas Orquideas De Mexico Suarez 2012 photo fide;
Diversity of Pleurothallidinae in Guatemala: An Endangered Orchid Subtribe with High Economic and Horticultural Potentials Edgar Mo Mo, Cetzal, Basu and Vega 2017 photo fide; Orchid Genera and Species in Guatemala Archila, Szlachchetko, Chiron, Lipinska, Mystkowska and Bertolini 2018 as Zosterphyllanthos leucantus;
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