Stelis cochliops Luer & Hirtz 2016 SECTION Stelis

TYPE Drawing by © Carl Luer

LATER

Common Name The Snail Eyed Stelis [refers to the stalked stigmatic lobes]

Flower Size .16" [4 mm]

Found in Nariño? department of Colombia without elevational data as a mini-miniature sized, cool to cold growing?, caespitose epiphyte with erect, stout ramicauls enveloped by 2, ribbed, tubular sheaths and carrying a single, apical, erect, thickly coriaceous, elliptical, obtuse to subacute, cuneate below into the ill-defined petiolate base leaf that blooms in the winter on 2, from a node near the apex of the ramicaul, peduncle .2 to .4" [.5 to 1 cm], rachis to .4 to 1.2" [1 to 3 cm] long, erect, loose, subflexuous, successively 1 to 2, several flowered inflorescence with oblique, acute, shorter to as long as the ovary floral bracts and carrying olive black flowers with olive borders.

"This tiny species is apparently endemic in southern Colombia. It is characterized by a petiolate leaf a little longer than the ramicaul. Two specimens are present, each with two racemes, one exceeding the leaf, the other, less than half the length of the leaf. The racemes are loose, flexuous and successively flowered. The sepals are broadly ovate and free nearly to the base. A thick apiculum projects from the margin of the petals. The lip is similar to that of S. spathulata, but the apical lobe is oblong and obtuse instead of acute. The elongated stigmatic lobes of the column are most remarkable as they protrude to either side, resembling the stalked eyes of a snail." Luer 2016

Synonyms

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ;

*Harvard Pap. Bot. 21: 63 Luer & Escobar 2016 drawing fide

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