Pleurothallis rubrifolia Mark Wilson, Tobar & Salas Guerr. 2016 SUBGENUS Pleurothallis SECTION Macrophyllae-Fasciculatae Lindl 1859
LCDP Photo by Mark Wilson & Portilla
Common Name The Red Leaved Pleurothallis [Refers to the red coloration of the abaxial side of the leaf]
Flower Size .6" [1.5 cm]
Found in Morona Santiago province of Ecuador and northeastern Amazonas staate of Peru in very humid premontane and montane forests at elevations of 800 to 2000 meters as a small sized, warm to cool growing epiphyte with terete ramicauls enveloped by a papery basal sheath and carrying a single, suberect to ascendent, ovate, acute, slightly revolute margins, coriaceous, adaxially mottled dark green, abaxially red-brown, channeled about midrib in basal half, cordate base leaf that blooms in the late winter on a short, through a reclining spathe, single flowered inflorescence carrying a resupinate flower.
"Pleurothallis rubrifolia is easily distinguished from Pleurothallis canidentis, with which it has been confused in the commercial trade, by the smaller plant size; slightly smaller leaf size; the lip brown-burgundy, triangular and planar in P. rubrifolia vs. red-brown or orange, oblong and convex in P. canidentis; the glenion raised, surrounded by callus in P. rubrifolia vs. slightly raised with no distinct surrounding callus in P. canidentis; and petals, dorsal sepal, synsepal yellow-brown to darker brown, moderately to heavily infused with maroon-burgundy along the veins in P. rubrifolia vs. dorsal sepal canary yellow, petals and synsepal red-brown in P. canidentis. " Mark Wilson, Luis Baquero, Katharine Dupree, Marco M. Jiménez, Cheryl M. LeBlanc, Gilberto Merino, Jose Portilla, Marcos Salas Guerrero, Francisco Tobar Suárez & Jon D. Werner 2016
Synonyms
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ;
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