Cranichis diphylla Sw., Prodr. 120. 1788.

Kolanowska, Marta, Baranow, Przemyslaw, Nowak, Slawomir & Fuentes, Alfredo, 2021, Materials to the revision of the genus Cranichis (Orchidaceae) in Bolivia, PhytoKeys 186, pp. 11-41 : 11

6. Cranichis diphylla Sw., Prodr. 120. 1788.

Type.

JAMAICA. s.n. (lectotype, designated by Garay (1978: 192): BM!; isolectotypes, LD, S!, UPS, W!; AMES! -drawing).

Diagnosis.

Plants up to 40 cm tall. Leaves 1-3, basal, often variegated, petiolate; petiole rather variable in length, up to 3 cm; blade up to 9 cm long, 4 cm wide, ovate to ovate-lanceolate, acute to subacuminate, subcordate at base. Scape slender, erect, remotely few-sheathed, glabrous below, glandular-pubescent above. Inflorescence up to 6.5 cm long, cylindrical, loosely to subdensely many-flowered. Flowers white with green veins. Floral bracts 4 mm long, ovate-lanceolate, acuminate, sparsely glandular. Pedicellate ovary up to 6 mm long, cylindrical, more or less glandular. Dorsal sepal up to 3.5 mm long, 1.6 mm wide, erect, elliptical, subacute to subobtuse, 3-veined, occasionally sparsely pubescent dorsally. Petals up to 3.1 mm long, 1 mm wide, near apex linear-oblanceolate, acute to obtuse, 1-veined, glabrous along margins. Lateral sepals up to 4 mm long, 1.6 mm wide, spreading, obliquely ovate to ovate-elliptical, acute to obtuse, 2-veined, occasionally sparsely pubescent dorsally. Lip up to 3.6 mm long, 3.2 mm wide, concave, inconspicuously subcordate at base, ovate to broadly elliptical in outline, subacute to subobtuse; disc obcordately papillose-thickened with three branching, often glandular (with nodules) veins from base to middle of lip. Gynostemium 1.3-2 mm long. Fig. 8 .

Habitat and ecology.

According to Vásquez et al. (2014) this species occurs in the Yungas ecoregion at altitudes between 1000-1500 and 2500-3500 m.

Representative specimen.

BOLIVIA. Santa Cruz. R. Vásquez C. 2180 (herb. Vásquez, LPB).

Notes.

The specimen cited by Vásquez et al. (2014) was not found in the Orchid collection in LPB and we were not able to confirm the occurrence of this species in Bolivia. The characteristics presented above were prepared based on those of Ecuadorian and Colombian plants ( Szlachetko and Kolanowska 2019).

Figures

Figure 8. Cranichis diphylla Sw. A Dorsal sepal. B Petal. C Lateral sepal. D Lip, front view. E Lip, side view. Drawn by N. Oledrzynska from Killip & Smith 15946 (AMES).