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

publication ID

https://dx.doi.org/10.3897/phytokeys.186.71499

persistent identifier

https://treatment.plazi.org/id/3AF3F9E1-15FD-542F-B40D-1934B7F73C8E

treatment provided by

PhytoKeys by Pensoft

scientific name

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

 

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 View Figure 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 View Figure 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.