Lepanthes liesiae B.T.Larsen, 2014

Larsen, Bruno, 2014, Three new species of Lepanthes (Orchidaceae), Phytotaxa 175 (5), pp. 275-280 : 277

Lepanthes liesiae B.T.Larsen , sp. nov. ( Fig. 2 )

This species is closely allied to Lepanthes protuberans from which it differs in the obtuse sinus with a minute triangular appendix, the thick, pubescent rostelum and the transverse ventral stigma with two apical lobes at each side of the anther

Type:— ECUADOR. Province of Loja: South of Loja, 2,000 m, collected in the wild 1 Nov. 2010 by Laurent Minet 223, flowered in cultivation in Borgerhout , Belgium , 20 September 2013, Lies Steel s.n. (holotype LISI-1594/2013, LISI!)

Plant small, epiphytic, caespitose; roots slender. Ramicauls slender, erect, 1.5–5 cm long, enclosed by 3–6, microscopically scabrous lepanthiform sheaths with oblique, dilated, acuminate ostia. Leaf erect, thickly coriaceous, ovate, acute, 1.5–2.5 × 0.3–0.45 cm, 2 mm thick, base cuneate into a petiole 4 mm long. Inflorescence a subdense, successively many-flowered raceme up to 5 mm long, borne above and behind the leaf by a filiform peduncle 0.6 mm long; floral bracts muriculate, 0.41 mm long; pedicels 2 mm long; ovary smooth, 1.83 mm long. Sepals translucent yellow, suffused with red at the margins, carinate, speculate, margins coarsely ciliate; dorsal sepal ovate-triangular, acute, minutely acuminate, 2.3 × 1.57 mm, 3-veined, connate to the lateral sepals for 0.33 mm; lateral sepals ovate, diverging, acute, minutely acuminate, 2.09 × 1.33 mm, connate for 0.57 mm, 2-veined. Petals yellow with red margins, microscopically pubescent, transversely bilobed, lobes oblong, subtriangular, apices rounded, 0.6 × 2.94 mm, upper lobe slightly larger. Lip red, bilaminate, densely pubescent, with long hairs anteriorly, the blades oblong with rounded apices and bases, 1 mm long, the connectives broadly oblong, oblique, forming a broad minutely pubescent body, connate to the base of the column, the sinus obtuse with a minute, triangular, 0.12 mm long, short pubescent appendix. Column red, conical, cellular pubescent, 0.8 mm long, anther apical, typical for the genus, stigma ventral, transverse, with two apical lobes on each side of the anther. Capsule unknown.

Etymology:— Named in honor of Lies Steel from Borgerhout, Belgium, who cultivates this species.

Distribution and habitat:– Ecuador. This species was found south of Loja where it grows as epiphyte on tall branches, in very shady conditions, of dense, remnant cloud forest.

Comments:— Lepanthes liesiae is characterized by slender, erect ramicauls with semi-terete leaves, a sub-dense inflorescence with flowers with carinate-spiculate dorsal and lateral sepals with coarsely-ciliate margins.

From the other species with semi-terete leves this species is most similar to Lepanthes protuberans Luer & H.P.Jesup in Luer (1996: 142) from Morona-Santiago and Zamora-Chinchipe, Ecuador. Lepanthes liesiae can be distinguished from the later by the following set of characters: the presence of a minute triangular, pubescent appendix at the obtuse sinus; a thick, densely pubescent rostellum, and most remarkably by the transverse ventral stigma with two apical, large lateral lobes on each side of the anther.

Figures

FIGURE 2. Lepanthes liesiae B.T.Larsen. A. Segment of inflorescence with one flower in frontal view. B. Dissected flower. C. Column and lip blade in lateral view. D. Expanded lip, frontal view. E. Column and complete lip, lateral view. F. Habit. Drawn from the holotype by B. Larsen.