Stelis semperflorens Luer 1981 SECTION Stelis

Drawing by © Oscar Duque

Common Name The Always in Flower Stelis

Flower Size .16" [4 mm]

Found in Panama province of Panama on Cerro Jefe in cloud forests at elevations around 1000 meters as a mini-miniature sized, warm to cool growing, densely caespitose epiphyte with short erect ramicauls enveloped by 2 to 3, ribbed, tubular sheaths and carrying a single, apical, erect, coriaceous, elliptical-obovate, obtuse, minutely notched, with an apiculum, cuneate below into the subpetiolate base leaf that blooms in the late winter and early spring on an erect, arising from a node on the ramicaul, peduncle 1.6" [4 cm] long, rachis progressively lengthening, flexuous, flexible, 7.2" [28 cm] long, with .28 to .4" between each flower, simultaneously 2 to 6 flowered, many flowered inflorescence with thin, close, as long as the pedicel floral bracts and carrying flowers with similar, purple below the middle, dull white and shortly pubescent above the middle sepals, green petals and a purple lip.

"It produces numerous, progressively lengthening racemes each of which flowers continuously for about a year. The much smaller habit separates it forem S vestita." Luer 1981

Synonyms

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ;

*Phytologia 49: 238 Luer 1981;

Orchidaceae Stelis Sw A Compendium O Duque 2008 drawing fide

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

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