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(Last Modified On 1/20/2013)
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(Last Modified On 1/20/2013)
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Species
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CHONDRORHYNCHA costaricensis (Schltr.) P. H. Allen
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Synonym
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Kefersteinia costaricensis Schltr. in Beih. Bot. Centralbl. 362:413. 1918.
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Description
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Dwarf tufted epiphytic herbs without pseudobulbs, 12-18 cm. tall. Leaves plicate, lanceolate, acuminate, 10-18 cm. long and 1.5-2 cm. wide. Inflorescences of slender, arching or semi-pendulous scapes 2.5-4 cm. long, from the base of the leaves. Flowers small, solitary. Sepals subequal, spreading, white or cream, the dorsal sepal elliptic-lanceolate, acute or subacute, 8-10 mm. long and 4-5 mm. wide, lateral sepals rather obliquely elliptic-lanceolate, acute or apiculate, 10-12 mm. long and 5-6 mm. wide. Petals subequal to the dorsal sepal, white or cream, often spotted maroon, obliquely oblong, acute, 7-9 mm. long and 4-5 mm. wide. Lip entire, suborbicular, contracted at the base and adnate to the foot of the column, 8-10 mm. long and 7-8 mm. wide, white or cream, spotted maroon, the apex entire or with an obtuse apicule; disk with an erect pedicellate callus, the apex 2-scutellate. Column erect, 5-7 mm. long, the apex broadly clavate, the ventral surface with a longitudinal keel which is expanded into a broad biauriculate, abruptly apiculate plate below the narrow transverse stigma. Anther terminal, operculate, incumbent, 1-celled.
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Distribution
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Costa Rica and Panama.
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Specimen
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COLON: Rio Llano Sucio, vic. Puerto Pilon, about 65 m., H. P. Butcher s. n. (under Allen 2457).
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Note
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Known in Panama from a single fragmentary specimen preserved in liquid. Our material shows some slight differences from the Costa Rican type, notably in the subrhombic rather than scutellate divisions of the apex of the basal callus, and the apparently fleshier winged plate below the stigma, which has a more prominent central spur or apicule. Although it has been decided to consider our specimen as representing Chondrorhyncha costacricensis, it would seem well to note that this, and apparently one or two other species from outside our range, exhibit a radical departure from the typical concept of either Chondrorhyncha or Kefersteinia in the conspicuously pedicellate basal callus of the lip and the broad plate on the under-side of the column below the stigma. It seems possible that these may actually represent an unrecognized entity of generic rank. Unfortunately, these characters are not always easily seen in dried specimens. However, the necessity for adequate material to show points of difference in no way alters the basic fact that they may exist.
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