Pleurothallis spectabilis Ames & Scheinf. 1925 SUBGENUS Empusella Luer 1986
Photo by © Adam Karremans
Photo by © Wilfried Löderbusch
Photo by © Franco Pupulin
Drawing of Specklinia spectabilis
Drawing by F. Pupulin & E. Winkel and Phytotaxa 63:11 A reconsideration of the empusellous species of Specklinia (Orchidaceae: Pleurothallidinae) in Costa Rica Pupulin, Kerremans and Gravendeel 2012
Common Name The Spectacular Pleurothallis
Flower Size
Found in Oaxaca and Chiapas states of Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Veraguas province of Panama in mixed tropical forests at elevations around 1000 meters as a miniature to small sized, warm to cool growing epiphyte with abbreviated ramicauls enveloped totally by loose tubular sheaths and carrying a single, apical, erect, acute, coriaceous, 5 to 7 conspicuous nerved with the midnerve above and strongly carinate beneath, cuneate-spathullate to obloanceolate, very gradually narrowing below into the sulcate, petioalte base leaf that blooms in the winter on an erect, narrowly winged, provided with 2 to 3 inconspicuous, distant, infundibuliform sheaths, peduncle 6 to 8.4" [15 to 21 cm] long, rachis .6 to 3.2" [1.5 to 8 cm] long, suberect to arcuate, densely four to many flowered, gently fractiflex, glabrous, successively single, many flowerd inflorescence with distichous, infundibuliform, deeply keeled on the back floral bracts.
"Pleurothallis spectabilis is closely allied to P. pfavii but differs in the more numerous scarlet flowers, truncate-retuse lip, and dentate column-wing. In habit it resembles P. erinacea but has larger and different flowers." Ames & Schweinfurth 1925
P spectabilis is part of the P endotrachys complex and often cited as a synonym of P endotrachys it is closely related to P deuterodunstervillei, P pfavii, P dueteroremotifolia, P juddii, P fulgens, P guanacastensis and P montezumae.
Synonyms Specklinia spectabilis (Ames & C.Schweinf.) Pupulin & Karremans 2012
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ;
* Schedul. Orchid. 8: 34 Ames & C. Schweinf. 1925;
The Orchids of Panama L.O. Williams & P Allen 1946 as P spectabilis;
Phytotaxa 63:15 A reconsideration of the empusellous species of Specklinia (Orchidaceae: Pleurothallidinae) in Costa Rica Pupulin, Kerremans and Gravendeel 2012 as Specklinia spectabilis drawing/photo fide; LANKESTERIANA 14(2): 115—121. Vega, Cetzal, Mo, Germer and Soler 2014 as Specklinia spectablis 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 as Specklinia spectabilis photo fide; ;
Pleurothallids Neotropical Jewels Vol 1 Karremans & Viera 2020 as Specklinia spectabilis photo fide
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