Stelis carta Luer & Hirtz 2009 SECTION Stelis

Drawing by © Carl Luer

Common Name The Close Cut Stelis [refers to the short pubescence]

Flower Size .24” [6 mm]

Found in Morona-Santiago province of Ecuador at elevations around 1000 meters as a mini-miniature sized, warm growing, caespitose epiphyte with erect, slender ramicauls enveloped by a tubular sheath below the middle and 2 to 3 others at the base and carrying a single, apical, erect, coriaceous, narrowly elliptical, acute, narrowly cuneate below into the long-petiolate base leaf that blooms in the winter on an erect, loose, distichous, subflexuous, 4.8” [12 cm] long including the .8” [2 cm] long peduncle, successively few, several flowered inflorescence arising through a slender spathe below the apex of the ramicaul with obtuse, oblique, shorter than the ovary floral bracts.

"Superficially similar to S pilossisima but distinguished by the longer, subflexuous raceme. The flowers are similar in size but the dense pubescence of S carta is very short and the similar thickly discoid lip a variation of Type "A" is proportionally larger. The sepals are concave basally to accomodate the petals and lip." Luer 2009

Synonyms

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ;

* Icones Pleurothallidinarum Vol XXX Lepanthes of Jmaica Systematics of Apoda-Prorepentia Luer 2009

Icones Pleurothallidinarum Vol XXX Lepanthes of Jmaica Systematics of Apoda-Prorepentia Luer 2009drawing fide

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

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