Lepanthes selenitepala Rchb.f.

  • Authority

    Ackerman, James D. 1995. An orchid flora of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 73: 1-203.

  • Family

    Orchidaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Lepanthes selenitepala Rchb.f.

  • Description

    Species Description - Plants epiphytic, caespitose, to 12.7 cm tall. Roots gray-green, numerous, ca. 0.5 mm diam. Stems slender, erect, covered by 3-12 sheaths with puberulent ribs and ostia margins. Leaves solitary, coriaceous, subsessile, ovate to lanceolate or elliptic, tridenticulate, 1.1-3.7 cm long. Inflorescences terminal, racemes fasciculate, 1-8; peduncle and rachis filiform, shorter than and usually appressed to top side of leaves; rachis fractiflex, many-flowered; floral bracts minute. Flowers delicate, ca. 4-6 mm long, sequentially produced. Pedicels persistent, ca. 1 mm long. Ovary articulated, ca. 1.5 mm long. Sepals greenish to tan with reddish tinges, ovate to ovate-lanceolate, ciliate, basally connate, acute to acuminate, 2.3-3.4 mm long, 1.5-2.2 mm wide. Petals yelloworange with a reddish band along margins, transversely bilobed, semilunar, 2.2-3.5 mm long, 0.5-0.9 mm wide. Lip dark red, trilobed; middle lobe minute, retuse, puberulent, to 0.2 mm long; lateral lobes lying above the column, petals and sepals, 1.2-1.7 mm long. Column slender, 1.0-1.5 mm long. Fruits angled, subglobose, ca. 4 mm long.

  • Discussion

    1. Lepanthes selenitepala Reichenbach f., Ber. Deutsch. Bot. Ges. 3: 279. 1885. Type. Sintenis 502, from Indiera Fria, near Maricao, Puerto Rico (isotypes, B, K, LD). Phenology & Pollination. Plants flower throughout the year. Pollinators are unknown. Populations in the Luquillo Mountains consist of relatively small plants that seem to be self-pollinating because most flowers appear to produce fruits. Taxonomic Notes. Prior to Stimson's (1969) study, nearly all Puerto Rican Lepanthes were identified as L. selenitepala, except the quite obviously different L. sanguinea. Consequently, L. selenitepala was thought to occur throughout the montane regions of the island (Cogniaux & Urban, 1903). Currently, we know these plants only from the Luquillo Mountains and the Maricao forest, but not in between. Plants in Maricao tend to be much larger than those of the Luquillo Mountains, although at least one population in Maricao also consists solely of small plants (Stimson 1432, D U K E ).

  • Distribution

    General Distribution. Endemic to Puerto Rico.

    Puerto Rico South America|