Stelis atomacea Luer & R.Escobar 2016 SECTION Stelis

TYPE Drawing by © Carl Luer

LATER

Common Name The Atom-Like Stelis [refers to the minute floral parts]

Flower Size .1" [2.5 mm]

Found in Antioquia department of Colombia at elevations around 2900 meters as a mini-miniature sized, cold growing, caespitose, clump forming epiphyte with erect, slender ramicauls enveloped by 2 close, tubular sheath and another at the base and carrying a single, apical, erect, coriaceous, narrowly linear, acute, narrowing below into the base leaf that blooms in the winter on a single, from a node near the apex of the ramicaul, peduncle .04 to 1" [.1 to 2.5 cm], rachis to 1.2 to 2.4" [3 to 6 cm] long, erect, successively several, many flowered inflorescence with oblique, acute, as long as the ovary floral bracts and carrying greenish-white flowers with glabrous sepals.

"This very small, slender, caespitose species with narrowly linear leaves sometimes forms large clumps. A successively many flowered raceme bears tiny flowers with subacute sepals about .04" [1 mm] long, and petals less than half that size. Stelis atomacea is similar to the ubiquitous Stelis pusilla Kunth, but differs in morphology of the lip, in addition to subacute tips of the sepals, instead of obtuse. Instead of type "A" with a minute apiculum on a rounded apex, the lip is acuminate above the middle into a narrowly obtuse tip." Luer 2016

Synonyms

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ;

*Harvard Pap. Bot. 21: 60 Luer & Escobar 2016 drawing fide

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------