Stenorrhynchos lanceolatum (Aubl.) Rich. ex Spreng.
-
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
-
Description
Species Description - Plants terrestrial, erect, 30-60 cm tall. Roots numerous, fasciculate, villous, 3-8 mm diam. Leaves few, basal, oblong-lanceolate, 11-24 cm long, 2-3.5 cm wide, often withered at anthesis. Inflorescences terminal, erect, bracteate; scapose racemes densely many-flowered; rachis scurfy pubescent, 6-16 cm long; floral bracts lanceolate, longer than ovaries but not exceeding the flower. Flowers red to salmon pink, sometimes with a whitish lip, somewhat tubular, 2-3 cm long. Sepals connivent, glandular, lanceolate, acuminate; dorsal sepal 1-2 cm long; lateral sepals oblique, 1.5-2.5 cm long, adnate to the column foot. Petals thin, adnate to the margins of the dorsal sepal, oblong-lanceolate to ellipticlanceolate, 1.1-2 cm long, 2.5-3.5 mm wide. Lip attached to the column foot and forming a shallow spur or mentum with the lateral sepals, ovate-lanceolate, apiculate, 1.4-2.3 cm long. Column straight, ca. 6 mm long; column foot elongate, decurrent to the middle of the ovary and free at the tip for 1 mm; rostellum acicular; anther ca. 5 mm long. Fruits ellipsoidal, 12-15 mm long.
-
Discussion
1. Stenorrhynchos lanceolatum (Aublet) Richard ex Sprengel, Syst. Veg. 3: 710. 1826. Limodorum lanceolatum Aublet, Hist. PL Guiane 2: 821. 1775. Spiranthes lanceolata (Aublet) Leon, Fl. Cuba 1: 358. 1946. Sacoila lanceolata (Aublet) Garay, Bot. Mus. Leafl. 28: 352. 1980. Type. Plumier s.n., from Martinique (original illustration at P, not seen; reproduction: Plumier, PL Amer. t. 181, f. 2. 1758). Satyrium orchioides Swartz, Nov. Gen. Sp. PL Prodr. 118. 1788. Stenorrynchos orchioides (Swartz) Lindley, Gen. Sp. Orchid. PL 477. 1840. Spiranthes orchioides (Swartz) A. Richard in Sagra, Hist. fls. Cuba, Bot. 11: 252. 1850. Type. Swartz s n., from Jamaica (UPS, not seen; BM). Phenology & Pollination. Plants flower in the late winter and spring. In Ecuador, Stenorrhynchos lanceolatum is pollinated by hummingbirds (Dodson & Dodson, 1980). In parts of Florida (U.S.A.) where hummingbirds are rare or absent, plants are agamospermic and produce seed via adventitious embryony (Catling,1987). W e suspect that flowers of Puerto Rican plants may also have a pollinator-independent breeding system (at least facultatively) because when local plants are cultivated and inaccessible to hummingbirds and other pollinators, all flowers produce fruit. Taxonomic Notes. Garay (1980b) placed S. lanceolatum in a segregate genus, Sacoila, on the basis of the vertically angled orientation of the stigma. However, Balogh (1982) placed Sacoila under the synonymy of Stenorrhynchos and regarded our species as the type of section Stenorrhynchos subsection Lanceolatus. In these papers, Balogh did not address the distinguishing characteristics proposed by Garay, and Garay did not mention the unifying features suggested by Balogh. Both studies lack sufficient detail, so they are difficult to compare. Because S. lanceolatum seems closely allied with species Garay considered to be in Stenorrhynchos sensu stricto (e.g., S. speciosum), I adopt the broader concept of Stenorrhynchos until clarifications are made. Illustrations. C A . Luer, 1972; Fournet, 1978; Dunsterville & Garay, 1979; Dodson & Dodson, 1980; Correll & Correll, 1982; McVaugh, 1985; Ackerman & Del Castillo Mayda, 1992.
-
Distribution
General Distribution. Widespread in the neotropics.