Harrisella porrecta (Rchb.f.) Fawc. & Rendle
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Authority
Ackerman, James D. 1995. An orchid flora of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 73: 1-203.
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Family
Orchidaceae
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Scientific Name
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Description
Species Description - Plants twig epiphytes, leafless, inconspicuous. Roots silvery gray-green, numerous, slender, 0.25-1 mm diam. Stems erect with a few reddish brown, scarious scales, covered by roots, to 15 mm long. Inflorescences few to many, filiform, racemes or panicles arising from the stem through the mass of roots, severalflowered, 2-5 cm long; floral bracts less than 1 mm long. Flowers small, pale yellow, nonresupinate. Ovary subsessile, ca. 2 mm long. Dorsal sepal elliptic, obovate, 2-2.5 mm long, 1.3 mm wide; lateral sepals obliquely elliptic-ovate, 2-2.5 mm long, 1-1.2 mm wide. Petals ovate, clawed, slightly smaller than the sepals. Lip broadly ovate, concave, margins involute; base with a short, apically expanded, scrotiform spur, ca. 1 mm wide; disc with an erect tubercle; total length of lip 2.7-4 mm. Column stout, minute; pollinaria 2, each with 1 pollinium. Fruits ovoid, reddish brown when mature, 4.5-6 mm long, the valves reflexed at dehiscence.
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Discussion
1. Harrisella porrecta (Reichenbach f.) Fawcett & Rendle, J. Bot. 47: 266. 1909. Aeranthusporrectus Reichenbach f., Flora 48: 279. 1865. Campylocentrum porrectum (Reichenbach f.) Rolfe, Orchid Rev. 11: 247. 1903. Type. C. Wright 3302, from Cuba (holotype, W ; isotype, K ). Harrisella amesiana Cogniaux in Urban, Symb. Ant. 6: 687. 1910. Type. Ames, Orchidaceae I: 15, t. 4, drawn from specimen collected by A. A. Eaton in Oneco, Florida (U.S.A.) June 1904. Harrisella unifiora H. Dietrich, Orchidee (Hamburg) 33: 18. 1982. Type. J. Bisse, H. Dietrich, D. Duany, J. Gutierrez, E. Kohler & L. Lepper 40577, from Cuba, Prov. Granma, Bartolome Maso, Sierra Maestra en la L o m a de la Sabina (holotype, HAJB, not seen; isotype, JE, not seen). Phenology & Pollination. Plants bloom in the winter. Flowers require pollinators to set fruit, but pollen vectors are unknown. Taxonomic Notes. Dietrich (1982) recognized four species in the genus: Harrisella porrecta, H. filiformis (Swartz) Cogniaux, H. monteverdi (Reichenbach f.) Cogniaux and H. unifiora Dietrich. Harrisella porrecta is sometimes confused with H. filiformis (e.g., Britton & Wilson, 1924), but a comparison of the types (H. filiformis: Swartz s.n., from Santo Domingo, B M ) clearly shows that they are distinct. In fact, I regard both H. filiformis and H. monteverdi to be Campylocentrum species and synonymous. In a study of Cuban Harrisella, Jorge Ferro Diaz (pers. comm., 1994) concluded that H. unifiora is synonymous with H. porrecta, which makes the genus monotypic. Illustrations. B. Ames, 1959; C. A. Luer, 1972; Ospina & Dressier, 1974; Dietrich, 1982 (as H. unifiora); McVaugh, 1985 (as Campylocentrum porrectum); Hamer, 1988.
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Distribution
General Distribution. Florida (U.S.A.), Greater Antilles, Mexico, and El Salvador.
United States of America North America| Mexico North America| El Salvador Central America|