Stelis glaucus A.Doucette & J.Portilla 2016 SECTION Stelis

Photo by © Pepe Portilla and The Ecuagenera Orchid Website

TYPE Drawing

TYPE Drawing by Alphonso Doucette

Deep shade EARLY Spring

Common Name or Meaning The Glaucous Stelis [refers to the leaf]

Flower Size .68" [1.7 cm] wide

Found in Ecuador without locational data as a mini-miniature sized, caespitose epiphyte with horizontal to pendent stems enveloped by 2 to 3 tubular, papery sheaths and carrying a single, apical, pendent, oval, obtuse, glaucous, narrowing below into the petiolate base leaf that blooms in the early spring on a horizontal to pendent, peduncle 1.2 to 1.4" [3 to 3.5 cm] long, densely several flowered inflorescence with many tubular, papery, shorter than the pedicel floral bract.

" Stelis glaucus is unusual in the genus given its habit and similar to only one other described species, S. gemma noted that Stelis gemma “is unique in the genus with the pendent, overlapping, glaucous green leaves”. The species described here represents a second species in the genus sharing this habit. S. glaucus is only similar to S pendulata but differs in the leaf width 1.24 tp 1.56" vs .76" (3.1–3.9 cm vs. 1.8 cm) and leaf (glaucus vs. green) and flower colour (beige vs. purple)." Doucette & Portilla 2016

Synonyms

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; * Phytotaxa 257 (3) 240 © Doucette & Portilla 2016 drawing/photo fide;

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