Stelis punoensis C.Schweinf. 1951

TYPE Drawing by Schweinfurth

Common Name The Puno Stelis [A high elevation plateau in Peru]

Flower Size .32" [.8 cm]

Found in Peru on cliffs at elevations around 3200 meters as a small sized, cold growing, repent ascending lithophyte with a conspicuous, stout, ascending rhizome giving rise to apparenty in pairs, basally decumbent stem with 3 tubular, evanescent sheaths, the uppermost longer, carrying an oblanceolate to elliptic, acute, gradually narrowing below into the distinctly petiolate base leaf that blooms on 1 to 3, longer to rarely somewhat shorter than the leaf, to 6.2" [15 .5 cm] long, rachis often fractiflex, loosely to subdensely several to many flowered inflorescence with small, infundibuliform, acute, spreading, shorter than teh pedicel floral bracts and carrying apparently purplish flowers that are rather large for the genus.

Outwardly appears to be similar to S cupiligera but S punoensis lacks the 5 nerved sepals and triangular apex to the lip. It differs from the Bolivian S campanulifera in having much larger flowers with more ovate sepals and a dissimilar lip." C Schweinfurth 1951;

Synonyms

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ;

* Bot. Mus. Leafl. 15: 19 Schweinfurth 1951;

* Bot. Mus. Leafl. 15: 19 Schweinfurth 1951 drawing fide

Orchids of Peru Vol 1 Schweinfurth 1958;

Orchids of Peru Vol 1 Schweinfurth 1958;

Die Orchideen 3 Auflage Bd 1 Sonderabdruck aus Schlechter Lieferung 8 449 - 512 Brieger, Maatsch and Senghas 1976 drawing fide;

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