Specklinia brighamii (S.Watson) 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 : 23-25

4. Specklinia brighamii (S.Watson) Pridgeon & Chase (2001: 256) . ( Fig. 4 )

Basionym: Pleurothallis brighamii Watson (1888: 285) .

Type:— GUATEMALA. Alta Verapaz: forests of Chocón, flowered in cultivation at Cambridge, Aug 1887, Watson s.n. (holotype: AMES!).

Homotypic synonym: Sarcinula brighamii (S.Watson) Luer (2006: 206) .

Epiphytic, caespitose, erect herbs, to 5.8 cm tall including the inflorescence. Roots flexuous. Rhizome extremely abbreviated, ramicauls erect, 3–10 mm tall, enclosed by tubular sheaths. Leaves erect, narrowly obovate, conduplicate, apex acute or subacute, slightly oblique, emarginate, with an apicule, 2.5–3.9 × 0.5–0.8 cm, the base narrowing into a distinct petiole. Inflorescence a congested fascicle of single, erect, successively single-flowered, to 5.7 cm long, slightly longer than the leaves, born by a filiform peduncle, to 1.5 cm long, the rachis congested, sub-fasciculate. Floral bracts tubular, imbricating, up to 4 mm long. Pedicels cylindric, to 0.8 cm long, persistent, purplish green. Ovary purplish green, cylindrical, 2 mm long. Flowers yellow striped deep purple; sepals yellow, suffused with purple at the base and three purple stripes; petals yellow with three purple stripes, lip light purple at the base and dull purple at the apex, in the centre yellowish, column yellow stained with purple. Dorsal sepal oblong, acute, slightly deflexed in the apical half, 7.5 × 2.5 mm. Lateral sepals elliptic, acute, margins minutely glandular, connate for 3 mm into an elliptical, acute, basally concave, apically diverging, bifid synsepal, 6-veined, each 8.3 × 4.9 mm. Petals oblique, oblong-ovate, 3.7 × 1.2 mm, the apex obtuse, apiculate, 2-veined. Lip oblong, cellular-glandular, the apex rounded, minutely erose, with a obtuse marginal angle between the middle and basal thirds, disc with a pair of minutely verrucose calli on the middle third, shallowly channeled between, base truncate with a pair of minute lobules, hinged to the column foot, 3.0 × 0.7 mm. Column cylindrical, 2.1 mm long, longitudinally winged with the margins sometimes minutely denticulate, dentate at the apex, with a 1.5 mm long column foot at the base.Anther cap incumbent, cucullate, acute, stigma ventral. Pollinia two, ovoid, flattened and hooked basally, lacking accessory structures.

Distribution:— Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, Costa Rica, Panama, Haiti, Cuba, Jamaica and Ecuador.

Habitat and ecology:— Widely distributed at low elevations in the humid central and southern Pacific regions of Costa Rica, 320– 915 m.

Phenology:— Flowering November–March.

Etymology:— Luer (2006) stated that the species is “named for Brigham, an acquaintance of Watson from Guatemala.” We believe it is likely that the name honours the American botanist, geologist and ethnologist William Tufts Brigham (1841–1926), who in 1887 published the culturally significant book Guatemala: the land of the quetzal.

Material examined:— COSTA RICA. San José: Pérez Zeledón, General Viejo, road to La Hermosa , 1 km before the football place of La Hermosa , along an unpaved road at left, epiphytic in secondary vegetation on trees along a small river, 9°18’737”N 83°46’315”W, 780 m, 10 Nov 2001, Pupulin et al. 3414 (JBL-spirit) ; Pérez Zeledón, El Brujo, road to El Llano , along the border of Río División , 320 m, 9°25’40”N 83°54’58”W, epiphytic on tall trees along the river shore, 21 Jan 2001, Pupulin et al. 2909 (JBL-spirit) ; Pérez Zeledón, Viento Fresco de El Brujo, along the Quebrada del Camarón , about 450 m, 9°25’13”N 83°56’27”W, epiphytic in disturbed primary forest, wet premontane forest, 20 Jan 2001, Pupulin et al. 2824 (JBL-spirit) ; Pérez Zeledón, vicinity of El General, elev. 915 m, Dec 1935, Skutch 2322 ( AMES). Puntarenas: Osa , Cortés , camino de Balsar a Maíz de los Uvas , entre Cuesta El Burro y Alto Buena Vista, 9°01’24.2”N 83°30’18.6”W, 701 m, bosque muy húmedo tropical transición a premontano, 31 Aug 2011, Bogarín & Karremans 9161 (JBL-spirit) ; same locality, Bogarín & Karremans 9162 (JBL-spirit) ; Osa, Cortés, camino de Balsar a Maíz de los Uvas , entre Cuesta El Burro y Alto Buena Vista, 9°01’24.2”N 83°30’18.6”W, 701 m, epífitas en la base de Ceiba pentandra , bosque muy húmedo tropical transición a premontano, 31 Aug 2011, Karremans & Bogarín 4633 (JBL-spirit) ; Osa , camino a Rancho Quemado, Salazar s.n. (JBL-spirit) .

Notes:— Flowers of S. brighamii are yellowish with purple stripes (more evident externally), similar to those of S. simmleriana . However, it has a narrow lip with whitish apical teeth as seen in S. acrisepala , S. barbelifera and S. tirimbina . Unlike S. acrisepala , which also grows on the Pacific watershed of the Cordillera de Talamanca, S. brighamii is a small plant (leaves to 4 cm long vs. 10 cm long) with a short inflorescence (5.8 vs. 13 cm) and short pedicels (0.8 vs. + 1 cm). From S. barbelifera and S. tirimbina from the Caribbean watershed, this species is distinguished by sepals with well-defined purple stripes (vs. with purple blotches and spots), the longer dorsal sepal (7 vs. 6 mm long) and lateral fused to about halfway and then somewhat divergent (vs. fused almost to the apex and connivent).

A specimen at AMES was selected as lectotype for S. brighamii by Kolanowska (2014). That lectotypification is rejected here on the basis that the holotype (Watson s.n., AMES-2346) is extant.

Figures

FIGURE 4. Specklinia brighamii (S.Watson) Pridgeon & M.W.Chase. A. Habit. B. Flower. C. Dissected perianth. D. Column and lip, lateral view. E. Lip. F. Column lateral and ventral view. F. Anther cap and pollinarium. Lankester Composite Dissection Plate (LCDP) by G. Salguero based on DB9161.