Encyclia pachyantha (Lindl.) Hoehne (1952: 154)

Bastos, Cláudia A., Meneguzzo, Thiago E. C. & Berg, Cássio Van Den, 2018, A taxonomic revision of the Brazilian species of Encyclia (Orchidaceae: Epidendroideae: Epidendreae), Phytotaxa 342 (1), pp. 448-450 : 448-450

29. Encyclia pachyantha (Lindl.) Hoehne (1952: 154) . Basionym: Epidendrum pachyanthum Lindley (1838: 31) .

Type :— FRENCH GUIANA. No locality, no date, Schomburgk s.n. (holotype: K-L!) ( Fig. 18 ) .

Heterotypic synonyms:

Encyclia latipetala (C.Schweinf.) Pabst (1967: 2) . Basionym: Epidendrum latipetalum Schweinfurth (1948: 219) . Type:— GUYANA. Kaieteur, 9 May 1944, Maguire & Fanshawe 23327 (holotype: NY).

Encyclia paraënsis Castro Neto & Cardoso (2003: 69) . Type :— BRAZIL. Pará : Vigia ( Campina do Igapó do Palha ), Araçá ( Campina de sable blanc do Guajará ), 6 km from Belém (near the Guamá River), 20−50 m, 10 April 2002, Cardoso s.n. (holotype: MG, not found; lectotype designated here: illustration in Castro Neto & Cardoso 2003: 71).

Encyclia chironii Castro Neto & Silva (2004: 140) . Type:— BRAZIL. Amazonas: Santa Isabel do Rio Negro, Ilha da Castanheira, 50–70 m, January 1982, Silva s.n. (holotype: SP, not found; lectotype designated here: illustration in Castro Neto & Silva 2004: 140).

Encyclia trinitensis Sambin & Chiron (2015: 214) . Type :—FRENCH GUIANA. Natural park of Trinité, next to camp AYA, 2013, Helene (NFB) 458 Z6017 AS 02 (holotype: CAY).

Epiphytic herbs, 19.3−26.2 cm tall. Pseudobulbs pyriform, 4.1−6.0 × 2.5−2.6 cm. Leaves 2, oval to lanceolate, 13.0−18.6 × 2.0− 2.6 cm, apex obtuse. Inflorescence a loosely 5−9-flowered, simple raceme; peduncle 20.0−24.0 cm long; rachis 12.8−31.5 cm long. Floral pedicel 2.3 × 0.3 cm, warty; sepals green-olive, dorsal oval, 1.8 × 0.7 cm, laterals oval, 1.9 x 0.7 cm, pendent, margin entire, apex uncinate; petals green-olive, spatulate, 1.7 × 0.8 cm, pendent, margin undulate, apex uncinate; lip with claw 0.1 × 0.3 cm, free lateral lobes relative to midlobe, 1.0 × 0.4 cm, greenish, at a ˂45° angle to midlobe (in the flattened lip), not overlapping it, margin entire, apex obtuse, midlobe conical, 1.1 × 1.0 cm, white with pink stripes and white border, conduplicate, margin undulate, apex truncate, callus cymbiform, bifid; column clavate, 1.1 × 0.3 cm, clinandrium apex tridentate, lateral teeth triangular, apex acute, arms of the column quadrate, c. 0.1 × 0.1 cm, apex obtuse; stigma rounded, with basal hooks; anther 1, whitish.

Distribution and habitat:— Amazonas ( Fig. 16 ).

Phenology:— Flowering all year.

Etymology:— From the Greek pachys, thick, and anthos, flower, a reference to the succulent texture of the flowers.

Taxonomic notes:— The type of Epidendrum pachyanthum Schlechter (1919: 38) is from Caracas, Venezuela, (John s.n.), and the protologue indicates a close relationship to Epidendrum brachychilum Lindley (1846: 9) , which is now Prosthechea brachychila (Lindl.) Higgins (1997: 376) .

The types of E. paraënsis and E. chironii were not found after two visits to MG and SP, the herbaria where they were stated to have been deposited. For this reason, we lectotypify the names with the illustrations in their descriptions. The differences between E. paraënsis and E. pachyantha , such as the smaller flowers mentioned by the authors, are insufficient to justify recognising two species. The only real difference we observe is the rounded midlobe in E. paraënsis in relation to E. pachyantha , which seems too minor to keep the former distinct. The type of E. chironii has a lip with both the lateral lobes and midlobe wider in relation to E. pachyantha , which again seems insufficient to keep it as a separate species given overall high similarity of vegetative and floral morphology. For example, these concepts all have greenish, concave, pendent flowers with a conic midlobe that is white and densely pink-striped with a white margin.

Recently, Sambin & Chiron (2015) published another new species from French Guayana, E. trinitensis . However, again the illustration of the type presented along with the description makes it clear it is another specimen of variable E. pachyantha . The authors themselves recognised similarity to E. paraënsis and E. pachyantha , from which they indicated subtle differences in shape, measurements and smell, not justifing recognition of another taxon. The patterns of morphological variation found in an expanded concept of E. pachyantha are similar to other widespread Encyclia species such as E. oncidioides and E. chloroleuca , and for this reason we propose here synonymisation of E. trinitensis with E. pachyantha .

Selected specimens examined: BRAZIL. Amapá: Macapá, Teimoso Farm, 14 April 1997, Cordeiro 2502 (IAN); Porto Grande, Copram Farm, 50 m, 6 November 1967, no collector (ESA 26361). Amazonas: São Gabriel da Cachoeira, Uauapés River, 20 July 1999, Silva 816 (MG). Pará: Acará, Campina Guajará, 27 January 1991, Silva & Silva 112 (MG); Melgaço, Caxiuanã National Forest, 12 April 2010, Koch et al. 229 (MG); Moju, Jupupa Bayou, 19 March 1975, Bouças et al. 7 (IAN). GUYANA. No locality, April 1883, Jenman 2027 (K); May 1898, Jenman 7373 (K). FRENCH GUIANA. Santa Laurent du Maroni, March 1950, Lemée s.n. (P 410739); no locality, 9 May 1875, no collector (W 369); no locality, no date, Schikland s.n. (W 14664).

Figures

FIGURE 16. Distribution in Brazil of Encyclia oliveirana, E. oncidioides, E. osmantha, E. pahyantha, E. patens and E. patens var. serroniana.

FIGURE 18. A−G. Encyclia pachyantha. A. Dorsal sepal. B. Lateral sepal. C. Petal. D. Lip. E. Detail of lip callus. F. Column front view. G. Column side view (Silva 112). H−N. Encyclia patens. H. Dorsal sepal. I. Lateral sepal. J. Petal. K. Lip. L. Detail of lip callus. M. Column front view. N. Column side view (Bastos 340). O−V.Encyclia patens var. serroniana. O. Habit. P. Dorsal sepal. Q. Lateral sepal. R. Petal. S. Lip. T. Detail of lip callus. U. Column front view. V. Column side view (Melo 5071). Illustration by Carla de Lima.