Trisetella portillae A.Doucette, 2016

Doucette, Alfonso, Portilla, Jose & Cameron, Kenneth M., 2016, Ten new taxa in the orchid subtribe Pleurothallidinae (Epidendroideae, Epidendreae) from Ecuador, Phytotaxa 257 (3), pp. 230-248 : 242-243

Trisetella portillae A.Doucette , sp. nov. ( Figs. 9 , 11J )

Type:— ECUADOR. Morona-Santiago: Santiago, 800m, flowered in cultivation at Ecuagenera Orchid Nursery, 4 September 2015, Doucette 0313 (holotype: HA).

Diagnosis: The species is most similar to Tristella gemmata (Reichenbach 1883: 294) Luer (1980: 57) but differs in the pandurate calyx and scabrose peduncle.

Epiphytic, caespitose herbs, roots 0.5 mm in diam. Stems 4–5 5 1 mm, enveloped by tubular, papery sheaths 1.0–4.0 5 1.0– 1.5 mm. The leaf linear, 23–34 5 3 mm. Inflorescence a successively flowered raceme; peduncle scabrose, 50.0–56.0 5 0.2 mm; bracts 2 5 1 mm; pedicel 9.0–12.0 5 0.2 mm; ovary 1.0 5 0.5 mm; dorsal sepal semicircular, yellow suffused with red-orange, 5 5 4 mm, contracted into a yellow tail, 7.0 5 0.2 mm; synsepalum oblong, red-purple, 10.0 5 2.5 mm, contracted into yellow tails, 6.0 5 0.2 mm; petal ovate, beige with a red stripe, 2 5 1 mm; lip sagitate, purple, 2.8 5 1.0 mm; column green suffused with purple with a free column-foot, the apex yellow, a nodule before the stigma, 3 5 1 mm.

Etymology:— Name to honour the president of Ecuagenera Orchid Nursery, Jose Portilla.

Notes:— The genus Trisetella was originally attributed to Masdevallia but was later segregated by Luer (1980) based on sepal and lip morphology. The species were found to be sister to a clade composed of other genera formerly attributed to Masdevallia (Pridgeon et al. 2001) . Tristella portillae keys to Trisetella triglochin (Reichenbach 1877: 648) Luer (1980: 58) but differs in the pandurate calyx and the nodule before the stigma. In most species there is a protrusion before the stigma, referred to by Luer (1989) as the “edge of the stigma”, but in the species described here the edge of the stigma is swollen into a nodule like that of Trisetella gemmata .

Trisetella portillae represents one of three species ( T. klingeri Luer (2007: 112) ; T. lasiochila Pupulin (2000: 30) ; T. dalstroemii Luer (1994: 136)) attributable to Trisetella described since the key to the species was published ( Luer 1989). The species can be distinguished from the species listed by International Plant Names Index (2016) published between 2009 and 2015 by the pandurate calyx and the nodule before the stigma.

Figures

FIGURE 9. Trisetella portillae. A. Habit, drawn to 5 cm scale. B. Flower. C. Dorsal sepal. D. Lateral sepal. E. Petal. F. Lip. G. Flower with one petal and sepals removed.All drawn to 1 mm scale.

FIGURE 11. A. Masdevallia constricta f. glabra. B. Masdevallia pachyura f. pardinella. C. Masdevallia posadae f. rugosepala. D. Acianthera nikoleana. E. Pleurothallis papillingua. F. Pleurothallis gigiportillae. G. Pleurothallis cardiostola f. magnidraba. H. Zootrophion machaqway. I. Stelis glaucus. J. Trisetella portillae.