Pleurothallis ruscifolia (Jacq.) R.Br.

  • 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

    Pleurothallis ruscifolia (Jacq.) R.Br.

  • Description

    Species Description - Plants caespitose epiphytes or lithophytes. Roots very numerous, slender, ca. 0.5 mm diam. Stems (ramicauls) slender, erect, composed of 2 long internodes, to 15 cm long, naked except for middle node sheathing bract, unifoliate. Leaves apical; petiole 8-20 mm long; blade elliptic-lanceolate, cuneate, acuminate, 5-15 cm long, 1.1-3.2 cm wide. Inflorescences terminal, short, subsessile, 1 to many, fasciculate, subtended by a short, conduplicate scarious sheath; racemes few-flowered; floral bracts inconspicuous. Flowers pale yellow to yellow-green, resupinate, thin. Pedicellate ovary slender, 4-6 mm long. Sepals and petals spreading. Dorsal sepal lanceolate, long acuminate, 6-8 mm long; lateral sepals completely united into a synsepal, similar to but slightly broader than dorsal sepal. Petals very thin, linear, 3-4 mm long, ca. 0.5 mm wide. Lip fleshy, sigmoid in lateral view, more or less ovate, acute, 1-2 mm long. Column 1-1.5 mm long; anther minutely tuberculate. Fruits subcylindric, 8-12 mm long. Chromosomes: 2n = 38 (Nakata & Hashimoto, 1983).

  • Discussion

    6. Pleurothallis ruscifolia (Jacquin) R. Brown in W . T. Aiton, Hort. Kew., ed. 2, 5: 211. 1813. Epidendrum ruscifolium Jacquin, Enum. PL Carib. 29. 1760. Dendrobium ruscifolium (Jacquin) Swartz, Nov. Act. Acad. Ups. 4: 84. 1799. Type. Jacquin s.n., from Martinique (a specimen at B M is filed as the type, but there is no indication that it was a Jacquin specimen or that it was collected from Martinique; illustration reproduction: Jacquin, Select. Stirp. Amer. Hist. 133, 3. 1763). Phenology & Pollination. Flowering occurs during the fall and winter months and occasionally at other times of the year. Like most other pleurothallids, Pleurothallis ruscifolia is probably pollinated by small flies

  • Distribution

    General Distribution. Central America, tropical South America, and West Indies.

    Central America| South America| West Indies|