Cranichis badia Renz ex Kolan. & Szlach., Nordic J. Bot. 32(3): 289. 2014.

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

2. Cranichis badia Renz ex Kolan. & Szlach., Nordic J. Bot. 32(3): 289. 2014.

Type.

VENEZUELA. Renz 6065 (holotype: RENZ!; isotypes: RENZ!).

Diagnosis.

Plants 28-60 cm tall. Leaf 1, basal, petiolate; petiole 10-19 cm long, narrow, canaliculate; blade 7-11 cm long, 5 cm wide, ovate-elliptical, acuminate, cuneate at the base. Scape sparsely pubescent on upper part, enclosed in 4-5, non-foliaceous sheaths. Inflorescence 6-8 cm long, cylindrical, subdensely many-flowered. Flowers brownish or greenish-yellow. Floral bracts 4.0-4.5 mm long, lanceolate, acuminate, glabrous. Pedicellate ovary 5.3-6.2 mm long, glabrous. Dorsal sepal 3.3-4.0 mm long, 1.5 mm wide, ovate, obtuse, 3-veined. Petals 3.7-4 mm long, 0.6-0.7 mm wide, falcately linear to linear-lanceolate, apex rounded, 1-veined, glabrous. Lateral sepals 4.0-4.1 mm long, 1.5-2.1 mm wide, obliquely elliptical, obtuse, 2- or 5-veined. Lip 2.9-3.6 mm long, 2.3-2.6 mm wide, concave, unguiculate, elliptic-suborbicular above, obtuse; disc 3-veined, midvein anastomosing, lateral veins branching. Gynostemium 1.5-2 mm long. Fig. 3 .

Habitat and ecology.

Terrestrial in Yungas montane humid forest with Weinmannia L. ( Cunoniaceae ), Clethra L. ( Clethraceae ), Ocotea mandonii Mez ( Lauraceae ), numerous plants of Chusquea Kunth ( Poaceae ) and Piper L. ( Piperaceae ). It occurs at altitudes between 2150-2890 m. Flowers in March and May.

Representative specimens.

BOLIVIA. La Paz: Prov. B. Saavedra. Area Natural de Manejo Integrado Apolobamba, Wayrapata. 15°06 ’45” S 68°55 ’05” W, 2889 m. 8 May 2010. L. Cayola et al. 3657 (LPB!). Tarija: Prov. Cercado, cerca Victoria, 2150 m. 3 March 1986. E. Bastian 937 (LPB!). Fig. 2 .

Notes.

Bolivian plants are somewhat different from typical plants of C. badia. Lateral sepals of Cayola et al. 3657 are 2-veined and lateral sepals of Bastian 937 are 5-veined, whereas typically C. badia has 3 veins. Cranichis badia was described relatively recently ( Kolanowska and Szlachetko 2014) and its morphological variation requires further study.

Figures

Figure 2. Distribution of Cranichis species in Bolivia. A C. atrata, C. badia, C. beckii, C. ciliata, C. cylindrostachys. B C. garayana, C. lehmannii, C. longipetiolata, C. maldonadoana. C C. mandonii, C. muscosa, C. pulvinifera, C. silvicola, C. stictopylla. Base map provided by Natural Earth (www. naturalearthdata. com).

Figure 3. Cranichis badia Renz ex Kolan. & Szlach. A Dorsal sepal. B Petal. C Lateral sepal. D Lip. Drawn by P. Baranow from L. Cayola et al. 3657 (LPB).