Lepanthes bogariniana Pupulin, 2021

Pupulin, Franco, 2021, A correction to the Lepanthes guatemalensis group (Orchidaceae: Pleurothallidinae) in Costa Rica, with a new species, Phytotaxa 480 (1), pp. 69-78 : 72-74

Lepanthes bogariniana Pupulin , sp. nov.

Type:— COSTA RICA. Heredia: San Rafael, camino al Monte de La Cruz , desviación al Residencial El Tirol , orillas del Río Segundo , cerca de Finca Villa Delia, 1840 m, 10°4’27”N 84°5’8”W, bosque húmedo premontano, epífitas en bosque secundario, 28 diciembre 2003, D. Bogarín 573 (holotype, JBL-spirit!). Figs. 2B , 5 , 6 .

Species Lepanthidi edwardsii Ames similis, sepalis anguste ovatis, lamina synsepali anguste ovata, lobo superno petalorum ovato-oblongo rotundato loboque infero emirotundo margo rotundato, laminis labelli directis a synsepalo bene separatis recedit.

Epiphytic, small, caespitose, erect herb, to 2.5 cm tall. Roots thick, glabrous, to 2 mm in diameter. Ramicauls slender, 0.8-1.4 cm long, enclosed by 2-3 glabrous, whitish sheaths. Leaf thinly coriaceous, elliptic to orbicular, rounded, conduplicate, deeply and narrowly retuse, with a distinct abaxial mucro, 8-10 mm long, 5.0- 5.5 mm wide, shortly cuneate at the base into a petiole about 0.5 mm long. Inflorescence produced singly, longer than the leaf, a loose, distichous, successively flowered (to 7+ flowers) raceme to 2.8 cm long; filiform peduncle to 23 mm long, provided with 1-2 short tubular, obtuse bracts; rachis slightly fractiflex. Floral bracts broadly ovate, amplectent, subacute, ca. 1 mm long, 0.5 mm wide, sparsely muriculate. Pedicel 1.3 mm long, glabrous. Ovary 1.3 mm long, subtrigonous, smooth. Flowers non resupinate, large for the genus, with pale translucent yellow sepals, suffused with red along the midveins, the petals red, the lateral lobes of the lip yellow with the base suffused with red, the column yellow, the anther cap white. Dorsal sepal narrowly ovate, contracted at apex into a subacute to acuminate tail ca. 3 mm long, 7.5 mm long including the tail, 2 mm wide, 3-veined, connate to the lateral sepals for 0.5 mm. Lateral sepals narrowly ovate-elliptic, connate for about half of their length into a suborbicular synsepal ca. 7.5 mm long (including the tails), 3 mm wide, apically contracted into acuminate tails that are straight to curved inward ca. 2.5 mm long, connate to the dorsal sepal for 0.5 mm. Petals transversely bilobed, 0.7 mm long, 1.9 mm wide, the upper lobes obliquely oblongovate, rounded, 1.3 mm long, 7 mm wide, the lower lobes smaller than the upper lobes, hemirounded, rounded to subacute, ca. 1.5 mm long, 1 mm wide. Lip bi-laminate, the blades narrowly digitate-falcate, acuminate, straight, 2.2 mm long, 0.5 mm wide, adpressed to the column, the connectives trapezoidal, the body thin, rounded-protruding at apex, with a very thin, up-curved, digitate, glabrous appendix. Column short, truncate, to 1 mm long, the anther apical, the stigma ventral. Anther cap cucullate, helmet-shaped, apically deeply bilobed. Pollinia 2, narrowly lanceolate, on a rounded, flat viscidium.

Eponymy:— Dedicated to Diego Bogarín, a close friend and colleague at the Lankester Botanical Garden, and one of the most competent orchid botanists in the world. Despite his young age, Diego is a recognized expert in the systematics and evolution of several groups of Neotropical orchids, including the difficult genus Lepanthes and closely related genera, topics on which he has published many important and seminal works.

Distribution:— Known exclusively from Costa Rica, where populations are found along the Cordillera Volcánica Central and Cordillera de Talamanca.

Ecology:— Epiphytic in disturbed premontane wet forest on twigs of main trunks mostly on fences and exposed conditions, at elevations from 1500 to 2000 meters.

Diagnostic features:— The species is easily recognized by the narrowly elliptic lateral sepals, the tails straight to curved inward, the lobes of the petals with rounded apices, and the yellowish-white column. It is close to Lepanthes edwardsii , but it has narrowly ovate-elliptic dorsal sepal (vs. ovate) and narrowly ovate synsepal (vs. broadly ovate), with the blades of the lip straight and not bent towards the lateral sepals. It is also similar to Lepanthes durikäensis Bogarín & Pupulin (2014) , but the latter can be distinguished by the ovate lateral sepals with the apical tails diverging, the up-curved, lanceolate-subfalcate lower lobe of the petals, and the pinkish column.

Additional material examined:— COSTA RICA. Heredia: slopes of Volcán Poás, near Los Cartagos, 2000 m, in open forest area, 1 May 1949, L. O . Williams 16593 ( AMES). Cinco Esquinas, carretera al Volcán Poás, cerca de 3 km después de Cinco Esquinas , Cerro de La Giralda ( Bosque del Desengaño ), 10º08’16.4”N 84º09’49.0”W, 1980 m, sobre árboles al lado de la calle, bosque húmedo montano bajo, 15 de Ago 2007, A. P . Karremans 1987, F . Pupulin, M . Pupulin, C . Pupulin, R. L . Dressler & R . Gómez ( JBL) . San José: Dota, El Jardín, Finca El Mirador, ca. 2000 m, 6 julio 2003, W . Schug 96 & Elena Naranjo ( JBL). Dota, Santa María, Las Quebradillas , plaza en la cima, zona de vida LM-wf, 09º41’25”N, 83º57’16”W, 2350 m, 29 Set 2002, W . Schug s.n., D. Matamoros & J. J . Zúñiga Jara ( USJ). León Cortés, Frailes, San Martín. Alrededor de 3 Km antes de el centro de acopio de APROCAM, al lado de la calle principal en árboles solitarios en potreros. 9º44’N 84º03’W. 1500-1800 m., con Fruticultura UCR-SA, 8 junio 2007, A . Karremans 1782 (JBL-spirit).

Key to the Costa Rican species of the Lepanthes guatemalensis group

1. Flowers non resupinate.......................................................................................................................................................................2

- Flowers resupinate..............................................................................................................................................................................3

2. Sepals elliptic, the tails straight to curved inward; lower lobe of petals rounded.......................................... Lepanthes bogariniana

- Sepals broadly ovate, the apical tails diverging; lower lobe of petals lanceolate-subfalcate (the entire petals boomerang-shaped) .. .......................................................................................................................................................................... Lepanthes durikäensis

3. Synsepal bifid, the apices of the lateral sepals not forming tails........................................................................................................4

- Synsepal caudate, the apices of the lateral sepals forming distinct tails ............................................................................................5

4. Flowers concolorous purple-red; lateral sepals much longer than dorsal sepal; petals flat, the upper lobe triangular; blades of the lip without connivent apices............................................................................................................................... Lepanthes ruberrima

- Flowers with yellow sepals, faintly suffused with red, the petals violet, the lip orange; lateral sepals subequal to the dorsal sepal; petals markedly convex, the upper lobe elliptic-lanceolate; blades of the lip with connivent apices................... Lepanthes leporina

5. Upper lobes of the lip orbicular; blades of the lip sigmoid, with a distinct basal lobe .............................. Lepanthes guanacastensis

- Upper lobes of the lip triangular-lanceolate; blades of the lip triangular, attenuate...........................................................................6

6. Peduncle <10 mm long; petals as wide as the lip length; blades of the lip distinctly diverging at apex.......... Lepanthes sanctiorum

- Peduncle> 13 mm long; petals distinctly narrower than the lip length; blades of the lip subparallel to converging at apex ............7

7. Basal margins of synsepal wavy-subcrenulate; petals with the upper and lower lobes subequal, with a small mucro in between; blades of the lip incurved-uncinate.................................................................................................................. Lepanthes tapantiensis

- Basal margins of synsepal plain; lower lobe of petals much smaller, rounded, upper lobe lanceolate, without a mucron; blades of the lip straight to slightly diverging....................................................................................................................................................8

8. Petals as long as the lip, yellow; blades of the lip with an obtuse angle on the upper margin, bent, the apices touching the sysnsepal.............................................................................................................................................................. Lepanthes edwardsii

- Petals much shorter than the lip, red; blades of the lip oblong, straight, the apices not touching the synsepal...... Lepanthes schugii

Figures

FIGURE 2. Comparison of the flower of Lepanthes edwardsii (A) and L. bogariniana (B). A, Pupulin 8894. B, Karremans 1987. Photographs by F. Pupulin.

FIGURE 5. Lepanthes bogariniana. A, habit. B, flower. C, dissected flower. D, lip, adaxial view. E, ovary, column and lip, lateral view. F, pollinarium and anther cap. All drawn by D. Bogarín from Bogarín 573 (JBL-spirit).

FIGURE 6. Lepanthes bogariniana. A, habit (Karremans 1987). B–C, views of the flower (Karremans 1372). Photographs by F. Pupulin.