Trichosalpinx dura (Lindl.) Luer

  • 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

    Trichosalpinx dura (Lindl.) Luer

  • Description

    Species Description - Plants small, caespitose epiphytes, 1.5-8 cm tall. Roots filiform, to 0.5 mm diam. Stems slender, erect, to 6 cm long, occasionally branched and superposed, each branch unifoliate; sheaths several to numerous, lepanthiform, limbs ciliate. Leaves sessile or short-petiolate, coriaceous, cuneate, elliptic to obovate, obtuse, 5-13 mm long, 3-7 mm wide. Inflorescences terminal, pedunculate, filiform, 15-80 mm long and extending beyond the leaf; racemes laxly several- to many-flowered; floral bracts obliquely funnel-like, minute, less than half the length of the ovary. Flowers yellow-green, delicate, small. Pedicellate ovary to 3 mm long. Sepals 3.5-7 mm long, 1-2 mm wide; dorsal sepal ovate, acuminate, free; lateral sepals ovate-lanceolate, acute to acuminate, basally connate. Petals oval to obovate, 1-2 mm long, 0.6-0.8 mm wide. Lip attached to the column foot, simple, ovate-elliptic to oblong, rounded, bicarinate adaxially, 1.5-2.5 mm long, ca. 1 mm wide. Column slender, arcuate, apically winged, 1-1.5 mm long; foot slender, ca. 0.5 mm long. Fruits obliquely obovoid, ca. 3 mm long.

  • Discussion

    1. Trichosalpinx dura (Lindley) Luer, Phytologia 54: 395. 1983. Pleurothallis dura Lindley, Folia Orchid. Pleurothallis 32. 1859. Type. Jameson s.n., from the Andes, Ecuador (Peru) (K-L). Pleurothallis foliata Grisebach, Fl. Brit. W. I. 610. 1864. Trichosalpinx foliata (Grisebach) Luer, Phytologia 54: 395. 1983. Type. Wilson 160, from Jamaica (K). Pleurothallis broadwayi Ames, Orchidaceae 2: 267. 1908. Type. W. E. Broadway 8802, from Annandale, Grenada (holotype, A M E S , not seen; isotype, K). Pleurothallis guadalupensis Cogniaux in Urban, Symb. Ant. 6: 432. 1909. Type. Duss 4192, from forest at 810 m , near Bonbariman on Haut-Matouba Mountain, Guadeloupe (BR, A M E S , not seen). Phenology & Pollination. In the Lesser Antilles, plants bloom from March through September (Garay & Sweet, 1974). Its pollinators and breeding system are unknown. Taxonomic Notes. Liogier (1965b) first reported Trichosalpinx dura (as Pleurothallis foliata) from Puerto Rico, where it was discovered by Donald Dod in 1963 (D. Dod, pers. comm., 1993). It had been seen at middle to high elevations in wet forests of Cerro de Punta and near El Verde, Luquillo Mountains, but no specimens were made. I have not yet rediscovered the species on the island. C. A. Luer (1983) originally treated T. dura as distinct from T. foliata but has come to regard them as synonymous (pers. comm., 1992). Illustrations. Foldats, 1970; Garay & Sweet, 1974; Fournet, 1978; L. O. Williams & Allen, 1980; Atwood, 1987.

  • Distribution

    General Distribution. Brazil, Central America, Columbia, Ecuador, Peru, Tobago, Trinidad, Venezuela, and West Indies. Distribution in Puerto Rico. Known from the montane regions of Jayuya, Ponce, Naguabo, and Rio Grande. Habitat. Epiphytic in wet montane forests at high elevations (800-1300 m); very rare.

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