Specklinia acrisepala (Ames & C.Schweinf.) Pridgeon & Chase (2001: 256)

Karremans, Adam, Salguero, Grettel, Bogarín, Diego, Oses, Lizbeth & Cedeño-Fonseca, Marco, 2020, Illustrations and studies in Neotropical Orchidaceae: the Specklinia brighamii group (Pleurothallidinae) in Costa Rica, Phytotaxa 447 (1), pp. 16-30 : 17-19

1. Specklinia acrisepala (Ames & C.Schweinf.) Pridgeon & Chase (2001: 256) . ( Fig. 1 )

Basionym: Pleurothallis acrisepala Ames & Schweinfurth (1925: 22) . Type:— PANAMA. Chiriquí: Palo Alto hill, elev. 4,000–5,000 ft., Sept. 1924, Powell 420 (holotype: AMES!; isotype: AMES!) .

Homotypic synonym: Sarcinula acrisepala (Ames & C.Schweinf.) Luer (2006: 203) .

Epiphytic, caespitose, erect herbs, to 15 cm tall including the inflorescence. Roots flexuous. Rhizome abbreviated, ramicauls short, erect, 2–5 mm tall, enclosed by tubular sheaths. Leaves spatulate to oblanceolate, conduplicate, apex acute, slightly oblique, emarginate, with a short apicule, 3.0–10.0 × 0.7–1.1 cm, the base narrowing into a distinct petiole. Inflorescence racemose, distichous, glabrous, erect, successively single-flowered, to 13 cm long, significantly longer than the leaves, born on a slender filiform peduncle, to 12 cm long, the rachis congested, sub-fasciculate. Floral bracts ovate, acute, conduplicate, tubular, to 1 cm long. Pedicels cylindric, to 1.3 cm long, persistent, purple, turning papery with age. Ovary purple, cylindric, 3 mm long. Flowers purple; sepals with a white base spotted with purple in the lower half and fully purple above; petals fully dark purple; lip whitish, heavily suffused marginally with dark purple, yellowish ochre apically; column purple. Dorsal sepal lanceolate, acute, concave, margins minutely glandular, 9.0 × 2.5 mm. Lateral sepals lanceolate, acute, connate for 3.5 mm, forming a mentum at base, 3-veined, each 9.0 × 2.5 mm. Petals rhombic, acute, 3.0 × 2.0 mm. Lip oblong, basally unguiculate, hinged to the column foot, cellular-glandular, the apex denticulate, with a pair of small, subacute marginal angles at the basal third, and a pair of denticulate-spiculate calli on the apical third, the disc transversely cellular-rugose, the base truncate with a pair of minute lobules, 3.5 × 1.0 mm. Column cylindrical, stout, 3.0 mm long, longitudinally winged with the margins minutely denticulate, dentate apex, with a 2 mm long column foot at the base. Anther cap incumbent, cucullate, and stigma ventral. Pollinia two, ovoid, flattened and hooked basally, lacking accessory structures.

Distribution:— Pacific lowlands of Costa Rica and Panama.

Habitat and ecology:— Epiphytic in premontane wet forest, rain forest transition and tropical wet forest premontane belt transition, secondary and primary vegetation, 110–1130 m elevation.

Phenology:— Flowering all year.

Etymology:— Luer (2006) suggested that the name is derived from the “Greek akros, at the end, the tip, an unclear reference to the sepals”. It likely derived from the ablative “acri”, Latin acer, meaning “sharp or pointy”, referring the pointed sepals as Luer (1976) also stated.

Material examined:— COSTA RICA. Puntarenas: Golfito, a orilla de la quebrada Gamba, 2.5 km al sureste de la Estación Biológica la Gamba , bosque muy húmedo tropical, 8°40’39.70”N, 83°11’57.20”O, 110 m, 29 Sept 2017, Rojas-Alvarado et al. 171 (JBL-spirit) ; Golfito-Guaycara , La Gamba, senderos cerca de la entrada principal, hacia la catarata, bosque muy húmedo, 8°42’11.88”N, 83°12’18.71”W, 100 m, 27 May 2016, Karremans et al. 7234 (JBL-spirit) ; Buenos Aires, Volcán, Cañas , 500 m noreste del centro de Cañas , 09°13’22.14”N, 83°24’36.06”W, 523 m, bosque muy húmedo premontano transición a basal, epífitas en árboles dispersos a orillas de quebrada, 29 marzo 2012, Karremans & Fernández 5296 (JBL-spirit) ; Buenos Aires, Volcán, Cacao , orillas del Río Cacao en bosque secundario bajo el puente de la Carretera Interamericana , 9°13’10.441”N 83°28’19.002”W, 449 m, bosque muy húmedo premontano transición a basal, 20 Mar 2013, Karremans et al 5830 (JBL-spirit) ; Buenos Aires, Volcán, Cañas , 2 km noreste del centro de Cañas , 09°13’21.00”N, 83°24’57.36”W, 535 m, bosque muy húmedo premontano trancisión a basal, epífita en árboles dispersos a orillas de quebrada, 29 Mar 2012, Fernández & Karremans 604 (JBL-spirit) ; Buenos Aires, Volcán, Cacao , orillas del Río Cacao en bosque secundario bajo el puente de la Carretera Interamericana , 9°13’10.441”N 83°28’19.002”W, 449 m, bosque muy húmedo premontano transición a basal, 20 Mar 2013, Bogarín et al. 10004 (JBL-spirit) ; Savegre, road from Cristobal to El Brujo , along the banks of Río Savegre , 9°26’06”N 83°57’45”W, 120 m, 21 Mar 2000, Pupulin et al. 2215 ( USJ) ; Osa, Sierpe, Mogos , 150–200 m, 14 Nov 1993, Morales s.n. Floreció en cultivo, 28 Dec 1999, Blanco 1064 ( USJ) ; Osa, Sierpe, Aguabuena , 3.5 km W of Rincón, four-hectare permanent sample plot 1 km N of Boscosa Station, 350 m, 8°43’N 83°31’W, 29 Sept 1992, Thomsen 134 ( USJ) ; Osa, Sierpe, Rincón , Nov. 1964, Mata s.n. ( USJ; illustration in Rodrigues Caballero 2019, f. 280). San José: Perez Zeledón , San Isidro del General , Tinamastes , camino al Alto de San Juán , al lado del camino, en árboles de potrero, 9°19’52.5”N 83°45’14.5”W, 1130 m, 18 Mar 2011, Karremans & Contreras 3730 (JBL-spirit) .

Notes:— Easily recognized by its relatively large size and characteristically elongate, wiry inflorescence much longer than the leaves, long purple pedicels and narrow sepals that are yellowish ochre heavily spotted with dark purple and dark purple sub-rhombic petals. The only other species with the inflorescence doubling the length of the leaves is the second new species (described below), but that species has shorter and narrower leaves and smaller, yellow, purple-spotted sepals. The lip of S. acrisepala is oblong and has distinct teeth on the apical margin, similar to those of the first new species described below, S. brighamii and S. tirimbina , but it is longer and whitish below, greenish ochre above the middle and purple suffused throughout. In Costa Rica, S. acrisepala and S. brighamii are only found in the lowlands of the Pacific side of the Talamanca Mountains, whereas the others mentioned here are exclusively found in the Caribbean watershed.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Specklinia acrisepala (Ames & C.Schweinf.) Pridgeon & M.W.Chase.A. Habit. B. Flower. C. Dissected perianth.D. Column and lip, lateral view. E. Column ventral views. F. Anther cap and pollinarium. Lankester Composite Dissection Plate (LCDP) by G. Salguero based on Karremans 7234.