taxonID	type	description	language	source
039487A2FFCFFF86E8CEF8B83385FBC1.taxon	materials_examined	Type: — ECUADOR. Pichincha: Mindo Forest, ca. 1600 m elev., 28 August 2020, unknown collector. Flowered in cultivation at the fund collection greenhouse of the Main Botanical Garden, named after N. V. Tsitsin of the Russian Academy of Sciences, prepared on 4 November 2024 (holotype: MHA [# VK 0022] spirit collection).	en	Koval, Vladimir A., Karremans, Adam P. (2025): Stelis kolomeitsevae (Orchidaceae: Pleurothallidinae): a new species from Pichincha province, Ecuador. Phytotaxa 697 (3): 274-281, DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.697.3.6, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.697.3.6
039487A2FFCFFF86E8CEF8B83385FBC1.taxon	description	The new species is similar to Stelis lancea Lindley (1859: 3), but can be distinguished from it by its shorter leaves (4.0 – 6.5 cm long vs. 6.0 – 10.0 cm long), shorter petiole (0.5 – 1.0 cm vs. 1.5 – 2.0 cm), the loosely flowered inflorescence up to almost three times longer than the leaf (vs. inflorescence dense, barely surpassing the leaf), longer floral bracts (2.8 – 3.2 mm vs. 1.5 mm) and pedicel (2.8 mm vs. 1.0 mm), smaller (1.5 – 1.7 × 1.2 – 1.4 vs. 2.0 – 2.5 × 2.0), glandularpapillose (vs. microscopically pubescent) sepals, and shorter (0.6 vs. 1.0 mm) column with a 5 - lobed clinandrium (vs. 3 - lobed). Description: — Epiphytic, scandent, ascending-repent herb, up to 26 cm high including the inflorescence. Rhizome 3 mm in diameter, with a spacing of 0.8 – 1.2 cm between adjacent stems. Roots slender, flexuous, yellowish, ca. 1 mm in diameter. Stems straight, terete, composed of two internodes; the upper internode 1.5 – 2.0 cm long, the lower internode 0.8 – 1.2 cm long, each 2 – 3 mm in diameter; both internodes completely covered by narrow, scarious, tubular, obtuse, carinate, and mucronate sheaths; lower sheath eventually falling off, the upper sheath persisting. Leaves fleshy, coriaceous, with a single midvein that is abaxially carinate, elliptic, rounded, emarginate and mucronate at the apex, 4.0 – 6.5 × 1.0 – 1.5 cm including a conduplicate petiole 0.5 – 1.0 cm long. Inflorescence arising from the annulus of the stem, up to 18 cm long, a single erect, strict, many-flowered (16 - 24 flowers) raceme; flowers open simultaneously, while apical ones remain in bud as fruits develop at the basal part; pseudopeduncle 6 – 9 cm long, 1 mm in diameter, enclosed at the base by a scarious, conduplicate, acute, carinate, shortly apiculate spathaceous bract 5 – 6 mm long, with 3 – 4 additional bracts similar to the floral bracts, measuring 3.4 – 4.5 mm long. Floral bracts obliquely funnel-shaped, apiculate, carinate, 2.8 – 3.2 mm long. Ovary induplicate, slightly arching, 1.0 – 1.2 mm long, pedicel 2.3 mm long. Flowers greenish-yellow, 2.6 – 2.9 × 2.7 – 3.2 mm. Sepals fleshy, broadly ovate, obtuse, 1.5 – 1.7 × 1.2 – 1.4 mm, connate at their bases by 0.5 – 0.8 mm before extending freely, 3 - veined, minutely glandular-pilose on the adaxial surface. Petals porrect, quadrangular-reniform, broadly rounded, shallowly concave, 1.0 – 1.2 × 1.1 – 1.2 mm, 3 - veined, fleshy-thickened toward the apex. Lip fleshy-thickened, transversely hemispherical-subquadrate, subrounded, minutely emarginate at the apex, truncate at the base, 0.5 × 1.1 × 0.6 mm, concave near the apex, hinged to the base of the column; margin slightly erect and granulose on the abaxial surface, especially toward the apex; on the adaxial surface with a medial and triangular callus that abruptly narrows and extends toward the apex, the callus 0.5 mm at its narrowest point, 1.3 mm in the middle, expanding to 1 cm at its base, and its depth is 2.5 mm from the center to the base. Column erect, broadened toward the apex, 0.6 × 0.8 mm, clinandrium 5 - lobed, oriented forward. Stigma apical, formed by two semicircular-reniform lobes, each 0.45 mm wide; rostellum suberect, obtuse, provided with an axial and abaxial crest. Anther cap apical, hemispherical. Pollinia 2, pyriform, yellow, 0.4 mm long, joined in a fluid viscidium at the tip of the rostellum. Capsule ellipsoid, trigonous, 13.0 × 4.0 mm, with the dry segments of the perianth persistent.	en	Koval, Vladimir A., Karremans, Adam P. (2025): Stelis kolomeitsevae (Orchidaceae: Pleurothallidinae): a new species from Pichincha province, Ecuador. Phytotaxa 697 (3): 274-281, DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.697.3.6, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.697.3.6
039487A2FFCFFF86E8CEF8B83385FBC1.taxon	etymology	Etymology: — The epithet honors Galina L. Kolomeitseva, a distinguished orchidologist and the first author’s teacher and mentor, whose guidance and expertise have profoundly shaped his academic career.	en	Koval, Vladimir A., Karremans, Adam P. (2025): Stelis kolomeitsevae (Orchidaceae: Pleurothallidinae): a new species from Pichincha province, Ecuador. Phytotaxa 697 (3): 274-281, DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.697.3.6, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.697.3.6
039487A2FFCFFF86E8CEF8B83385FBC1.taxon	discussion	Taxonomic discussion: — Stelis kolomeitsevae is morphologically similar to S. lancea and S. loejtnantii Luer & Endara in Luer (2004: 160), which also have a repent habit. In its floral morphology, the new species is similar to S. protracta Luer & Hirtz in Luer (2002: 56) and S. scitula Luer & Hirtz in Luer (2007: 48). In contrast, S. kolomeitsevae differs from S. lancea and S. loejtnantii by its narrower, ovate leaves (4.0 – 6.5 × 1.0 – 1.5 cm vs. 6.0 – 10.0 × 1.5 – 2.5 cm) and shorter ramicauls (2.3 – 3.2 cm vs. 5.0 – 9.0 cm). In floral morphology, it is distinguished from S. protracta and S. scitula by its loosely arranged flowers in an erect, acropetal raceme (15 – 18 cm long), while S. scitula has congested, secund racemes. The clinandrium of S. kolomeitsevae is 5 - lobed, in contrast to the 3 - lobed structure in the other species. The lip is transversely hemispherical-subquadrate with an emarginate apex, whereas in the other species, it is subquadrate and concave anteriorly, with a broadly rounded or minutely apiculate apex. Additionally, S. kolomeitsevae features a distinct triangular callus extending from the center to the base of the lip, whereas the shape of the callus varies among the other species. A comparative summary of these distinctions is provided in Table 1	en	Koval, Vladimir A., Karremans, Adam P. (2025): Stelis kolomeitsevae (Orchidaceae: Pleurothallidinae): a new species from Pichincha province, Ecuador. Phytotaxa 697 (3): 274-281, DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.697.3.6, URL: https://doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.697.3.6
