12. Cranichis muscosa Sw., Prodr. 120. 1788.

Cranichis ovata Wikstr., Kongl. Vetensk. Acad. Handl. 73. 1920.

Type.

JAMAICA. s.n. (lectotype, designated by Garay (1978: 202): BM!; isolectotypes, LD, S!, W!).

Diagnosis.

Plants up to 25 cm tall, erect, strict or flexuose . Leaves 3-5, basal, rosulate, petiolate; petiole 2-3 cm long; blade 2.5-3 cm long, up to two cm wide, ovate, elliptic-ovate to oblong, acute to subobtuse. Scape slender, enclosed in five sheaths. Inflorescence up to 7.5 cm long, cylindrical, subdensely many-flowered . Flowers small, white. Floral bracts four to five mm long, lanceolate to ovate-lanceolate, acuminate. Pedicellate ovary 5-6 mm long, glabrous. Dorsal sepal 2.2 mm long, one mm wide, oblong-lanceolate to oblong-ovate, acute, 3-veined. Petals 2 mm long, 0.6 mm wide, linear-ligulate to narrowly oblanceolate, obtuse, subfalcate, margins ciliate, 1-veined. Lateral sepals 3 mm long, 1.8 mm wide, obliquely oblong-ovate to elliptic-ovate, acuminate, acute, obscurely 2-veined. Lip 2.2 mm long, 1.87 mm wide, concave, subsessile, ovate to suborbicular-ovate, shortly apiculate to acute; disc with irregular knob-like projections in the centre. Gynostemium 2 mm long. Fig. 14.

Habitat and ecology.

According to Vásquez et al. (2014) this species grows as an epiphyte in humid amazon forest at altitudes between 500-1000 m. Flowers in April.

Representative specimen.

BOLIVIA. Santa Cruz: Velasco. Parque Nacional Noel Kempff Mercado. Campamento Las Gamas. Bosque de colina, 900 m. 4 April 1993. T. Killeen et al. 5050 (herb. Vásquez, MO, USZ- Vásquez et al. 2014). Fig. 2.

Notes.

This is a widely distributed species. Its geographical range extends from USA (Florida) to Brazil and Bolivia. It is recognized by its foliaceous scape, minutely ciliolate petals and lip with membranous margin.