Stelis gastrodes Luer & Hirtz 2009 SECTION Humboldtia

Drawing by © Carl

Common Name The Potbellied Stelis [refers to the synsepal shape]

Flower Size .12" [3 mm]

Found in Morona-Santiago province of Ecuador in cloud forest at elevations around 1500 meters as a small sized, cold growing, densely caespitose epiphyte with erect, slender ramicauls enveloped by a tubular sheath in the middle third and 2 to 3 tubular sheaths at the base and carrying a single, apical, erect, coriaceous, narrowly elliptic, subacute to obtuse, cuneate below into the petiolate base leaf that blooms in the summer on 1 to 3, erect, lax, subdistichous, 6 to 7.2" [15 to 18 cm] long including the 2 to 2.4" [5 to 6 cm] long peduncle, mostly simultaneously several flowered inflorescence arising through a spathe with infundibular, oblique, acute, shorter than the ovary floral bracts and carrying flowers with olive rose sepals, yellow petals and lip.

"Similar to S coeliaca in habit but the flowers of S gastrodes are half the size with the dorsal sepal three veined instead of five or five branching veins. The synsepal is similary abruptly concave below the central apparatus but the cavity is proportionally deeper which is prominent in a lateral view. Also similar to S cajanumae." Luer 2009

Synonyms

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ;

* Icones Pleurothallidinarum Vol XXX Lepanthes o Jamaica Stelis of Ecuador Part IV 2009

Icones Pleurothallidinarum Vol XXX Lepanthes o Jamaica Stelis of Ecuador Part IV 2009 drawing fide

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