Psychilis kraenzlinii (Bello) Sauleda
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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 tough, glabrous, caespitose, epiphytes or lithophytes. Roots numerous, from rhizome, 2-3 mm diam. Pseudobulbs cylindrical to pyriform, to 16 cm long. Leaves 2-3, coriaceous, margins entire or minutely toothed, linear, obtuse, to 25 cm or more long and 1.8 cm wide. Scapes erect, slender, partially covered by tubular scarious sheaths, to 2 m long. Inflorescences racemose, to 7 cm long, many-flowered, secondary racemes often forming on older shoots near the apex of the scape; floral bracts scarious, ovate-triangular, acuminate, 1-3 mm long. Flowers rose-carmine, resupinate, clustered, produced sequentially. Pedicellate ovary 2-2.5 cm long. Sepals oblong-oblanceolate, obtuse, 12-20 mm long, 4-6 mm wide. Petals cuneate, oblanceolate, obtuse, 12-18 mm long, 3-5 mm wide. Lip trilobed, attached along half the length of the column; lateral lobes rounded, erect, clasping the column; middle lobe obovate, retuse-emarginate, usually with a single prominent median rib; disc callus basal, canaliculate, elliptic, emarginate; free portion of the lip 13-16 mm long. Column straight, clavate, 9-13 mm long; pollinia yellow. Fruits green, ellipsoidal-cylindrical, 1.8-2.4 cm long.
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Discussion
1. Psychilis kraenzlinii (Bello) Sauleda, Phytologia 65: 15. 1988. Epidendrum kraenzlinii Bello, Anal. Soc. Esp. Hist. Nat. 12: 116, t. 1, f. 1-3. 1883. Encyclia kraenzlinii (Bello) Ackerman, Lindleyana 2: 123. 1987. Type. Bello s.n., from Isabela, Puerto Rico (illustration, loc. cit.). Phenology & Pollination. Flowering occurs throughout the year but mostly during the summer. Inflorescences may produce flowers for several years but not continuously. The flowers must be cross-pollinated to produce fruit. N o pollinator reward is produced, and visits are rare. The pollinators are not known, but, like many red flowers, they may be visited by hummingbirds or butterflies. Taxonomic Notes. In the Susua Forest Reserve, plants often regarded as variants of Psychilis kraenzlinii may represent a hybrid population involving P. kraenzlinii and P. krugii. The alleged hybrid, Psychilis x raganii Sauleda (holotype, Sauleda, Sauleda & Ragan 7664, N Y ) , differs from P. kraenzlinii by its smaller reddish orange flowers; its disc with 3 lamellae; and its broader, yellow, pale rose-carmine to white callus (Sauleda, 1988).
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Distribution
General Distribution. Endemic to Puerto Rico.
Puerto Rico South America|