Pleurothallis lunaris Luer & R.Escobar 1981 SUBGENUS Pleurothallis SECTION Macrophyllae-Fasciclatae Lindl. 1859
Photo by © Jay Pfahl
photo by © The Ecuagenera Website
photos by Duane McDowell © and his Flickr Orchid Photo Website
TYPE Drawing by Carl Luer © and The Swiss Orchid Foundation at the Jany Renz Herbaria Website
Common Name The Moon-like Pleurothallis [refers to the large, rounded pale orange flowers]
Flower Size .8" [2 cm]
Found in Antioquia department of Colombia at elevations around 2500 meters as a small sized, cold growing, caespitose epiphyte with slender, erect ramicauls enveloped by a long, close, tubular sheath below the middle and 1 to 2 others at the base and carrying a single, apical, erect, coriaceous, undulate, narrowly ovate, acute, deeply cordate below into the sessile base leaf that blooms in the spring on a fascile, arising through a spathe at the base of the leaf, of .4" [1 cm] long, successively, single flowered inflorescence witha shorter than the pedicel floral bract.
"Distinguished by the narrowly ovate, undulating leaves, a large peach colored flower with a rounded dorsal sepal a rounded synsepal and a rounded lip." Luer 2005
CAUTION Only the first photo is the true P lunaris, all the other photos are from plants sold by Ecuagenera and they are not P lunaris, as to what they are hmmmm. The sepals are not round enough, the petals are too narrow and the leaf does not seem undulate enough. Luer's Drawing is absolutely correct.
Synonyms Acronia lunaris (Luer & R.Escobar) Luer 2005; Zosterophyllanthos lunaris (Luer & R.Escobar) Szlach. & Kulak 2006
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ;
*Orquideología Vol 14 #2 Luer & Escobar 1981 Drawing fide;
Native Colombian Orchids Vol 6 COS 1998 photo fide to the first photo;
Icones Pleurothallidinarum Vol XXVII Systematics of Dryadella Systematics of Macrophyllae-Fasciculatae Luer 2005 as Acronia lunaris
Icones Pleurothallidinarum Vol XXVII Systematics of Dryadella Systematics of Macrophyllae-Fasciculatae Luer 2005 as Acronia lunaris drawing fide to the first photo only, all others not round enough sepals, petals too thin, leaf not undulate
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------