Cranichis silvicola Renz ex Kolan. & Szlach., Nordic J. Bot. 32(3): 296. 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

14. Cranichis silvicola Renz ex Kolan. & Szlach., Nordic J. Bot. 32(3): 296. 2014.

Type.

VENEZUELA. Renz 6139 (holotype RENZ!).

Diagnosis.

Plants 34-40 cm tall. Leaves 1-2, basal, petiolate; petiole 4-12 cm long, narrow, canaliculate; blade 6-22 long, 2.4-6 cm wide, elliptical, shortly acuminate, cuneate at base. Scape enclosed in 4-5 non-foliaceous sheaths, microscopically ciliate on upper half. Inflorescence 5(18) cm long, cylindric-conical, rather laxly many-flowered. Flowers white with green veins and lip, glabrous. Floral bracts 3.4-5 mm long, lanceolate to ovate lanceolate, acute or acuminate, sparsely glandular to almost glabrous. Pedicellate ovary up to 5.5 mm long, glabrous. Dorsal sepal 3.0-3.5 mm long, 1.5-1.7 mm wide, narrowly elliptic-obovate, obtuse, 3-veined. Petals 3.4-3.5 mm long, 0.8-1.0 mm wide, oblong-ligulate to linear-oblanceolate, obtuse, 1-veined, glabrous. Lateral sepals 3.0-3.5 mm long, 1.5-2.0 mm wide, obliquely oblong-ovate to ovate-elliptical, obtuse, 3-veined (sometimes obscurely 3-veined). Lip about 3.0 mm long, 2.1-2.2 mm wide, cochleate, subsessile, from the cuneate base suborbicular to broadly obovate, subacute at apex; disc with 3 veins, lateral veins branching, middle vein sometimes only extends to the middle part of the lip. Gynostemium 1.8-2 mm long. Fig. 16 .

Habitat and ecology.

Terrestrial plants growing in Yungas montane humid forest with Weinmannia L. ( Cunoniaceae ) and Miconia Ruiz & Pav. ( Melastomataceae ), and in cloud forest at an altitude of ca. 3088 m. Also reported from a lower altitude of 2100 m. Flowers in April and December.

Representative specimens.

BOLIVIA. La Paz: Prov. B. Saavedra. Area Natural de Manejo Integrado Apolobamba, Paján, sector Cochapata. 15°07 ’13” S 68°53 ’45” W, 3088 m. 22 April 2010. A. Fuentes & A. Machaca 16283 (LPB!). Tarija: Prov. Cercado. Cerca Victoria, 2180 m. 24 December 1985. E. Bastian 265 (LPB!). Fig. 2 .

Notes.

This species resembles C. badia , but differs in having a subsessile, cuneate lip base (unguiculate in C. badia ) and floral bracts equal in length to pedicellate ovary (vs. much shorter). Unlike in the type material the margins of the lip of Bolivian specimens are not undulate.

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 16. Cranichis silvicola Renz ex Kolan. & Szlach. A Dorsal sepal. B- C Petal. D Lateral sepal. E Lip. Drawn by P. Baranow from A. Fuentes & A. Macacha 16283 (LPB).