Lepanthes abacheke T.Arias, J.S.Moreno & S.F.Alarcón Vinasco, 2025

Arias, Tatiana, Moreno, Juan Sebastián, Restrepo, Eugenio, Alegría-Valencia, Melisa, Cadavid-Morales, David Emilio, Alarcón-Vinasco, Sergio Fernando, Davila, Camila & Zuluaga, Alejandro, 2025, Expedition Lepanthes (Orchidaceae) of Colombia: discovery of six new species and observations on a curious case of flower polymorphism, Phytotaxa 705 (2), pp. 115-148 : 122

1. Lepanthes abacheke T.Arias, J.S.Moreno & S.F.Alarcón Vinasco , sp. nov. ( Figures 3–5 , 21 )

Type:— COLOMBIA. Caldas: Riosucio, la Tabarquina, 2,640 m, 9 February 2024, T. Arias et al. 1359 (holotype: CUVC!, isotype: SEL! Spirit).

Lepanthes abacheke is most similar to Lepanthes gloriagaleanoana J.S. Moreno, Restrepo & Zuluaga (2023: 669) but differs in key features. The dorsal sepals of L. abacheke are suffused with dark pink to light yellow near the apex and upper margins (vs. purplish-red with green margins in L. gloriagaleanoana ). The lateral sepals have marginal stripes from dark pink to yellow along the center, are ovate with an acuminate apex, and connate at the base (vs. purplish-red outer margins and yellow-green inner margins). The lip is dark pink, glossy, and bilaminate, with oblong blades having incurved apices and green to yellow rounded tips, and bears a short, ovate, tridentate, pubescent at the base appendix (vs. linear oblong blades with obtuse ends and a short triangular, subacuminate appendix with pubescent vertices).

Description:— Epiphytic herb, caespitose, small to medium size, 12–15 cm tall. Roots fasciculate, terete, attenuating slightly towards the apex. Ramicauls 7–15 cm long, enclosed by 5–7 lepanthiform sheaths, with acute dilated ostia, and ciliate margins. Leaves hirsutuluos when mature, deep purple adaxially except along the margins, slightly coriaceous, narrowly cordate, acuminate, 1.62 × 1.65 cm; the acute base narrowing into a petiole 9.71 mm long. Inflorescence a congested successively flowered raceme, 2.2 cm long, borne adaxially on the leaf emerging from the apex of the ramicaul via a filiform peduncle 1.62 cm long; floral bracts 1.0– 1.2 mm long; pedicels 1.39–1.75 mm long. Ovary costate 3.68 mm long. Sepals pubescent including margins, with visible filiform papillae along the margins. Dorsal sepal slightly concave, suffused towards the apex and the upper part of the margins from dark pink to light yellow, ovate, with acuminate apex, 4.56 × 3.77 mm, 3-veined, connate to the lateral sepals for 2.13 mm. Lateral sepals with suffused marginal stripes from dark pink to yellow longitudinal along the center of both, ovate, acuminate apex, 4.43–4.46 mm × 2.47–2.49 mm, connate 1.75 mm at its base, 2-veined. Petals vinaceous-purple with suffused yellow towards the margins, glabrous, 3.61 mm, transversely bilobed, somewhat falcate, the upper lobes oblong, broadly obtuse 0.92–0.95 mm long, the lower lobe triangular, narrowly obtuse 0.44 mm long. Lip vinaceous-purple, glossy, body saccate, bilaminate with oblong blades, with apices of the base incurved, and the green to yellow apices rounded, 2.36–2.44 × 0.69 mm, connate to the column at the base by short cuneate triangular connectives, the appendix short, ovate, tridentate and pubescent at the base. Column adaxially cordate, abaxially ovate cuneiform 1.8 mm long, ventral anther located towards the center of the column dividing the bilobated ovate stigma. Anther cap oblong 0.63 mm wide. Pollinia 0.59 mm long.

Distribution and ecology:— Lepanthes abacheke was found between the Tatamá páramo and the Farallones de Citará; the forest is under the influence of the Chocó Jetstream. The forest canopy is between 15 and 20 m, dominated by palms, tree ferns and Bromeliads.

Etymology:— The meaning of the specific epithet of Lepanthes abacheke comes from the traditional indigenous language of the Embera people, indigenous to the Chocó region of Colombia and the Darién region of Panama, being a combination of the words Âba, which means ‘one’ or ‘first,’ and Cheke, ‘small’ or diminutive; signifying brother or heart friend, which can also be understood as little brother or little friend.

Taxonomic discussion:— The new species likely belongs to an informal group of species referred to as “manabina group” as proposed by Baquero et al. (2021). This group includes species that share morphological traits such as deeply concave leaves with slightly to strongly recurved margins and an adaxial surface that ranges from microscopically to conspicuously pubescent. Additionally, the group is characterized by congested inflorescences with flowers positioned on the adaxial side of the leaves, accompanied by a synsepal that varies from short to long caudate and a notably small, inconspicuous triangular appendix. The most similar species within the group might be L. smaragdina Luer & R.Escobar (1994: 115) , L. cincinnata Luer & R.Escobar (1993: 23) and L. ortiziana O.Pérez, E.Parra & Kolan (2011: 222) . Among all reported Colombian species, Lepanthes abacheke is most similar to a recently described species Lepanthes gloriagaleanoana , but it differs from the latter by several characteristics. Lepanthes achabake has dorsal sepals suffused towards the apex and upper part of the margins from dark pink to light yellow, 4.56 × 3.77 mm (vs. purplish-red dorsal sepals with green margins, 4.8–4.9 × 5.5–5.6 mm). The lateral sepals in L. abacheke have suffused marginal stripes from dark pink to yellow along the center, are ovate with an acuminate apex, 4.43–4.46 × 2.47–2.49 mm, connate for 1.75 mm at the base (vs. purplish-red lateral sepals from the second vein to the outer margin and yellow green from the second vein to the inner margin, 5.5–6.6 × 3.2–3.9 mm). L. abacheke has a dark pink, glossy, saccate lip, bilaminate with oblong blades, with incurved apices in the upper ends and green to yellow rounded apices, 2.36–2.44 × 0.69 mm, with a short, ovate, tridentate, and pubescent appendix at the base (vs. linear oblong blades with obtuse upper and lower ends, 2.5 × 0.9–1.1 mm, and a short triangular, subacuminate appendix with pubescent vertices).

Figures

FIGURE 3. In-situ photographs of Lepanthes abacheke T.Arias, J.S. Moreno & S.F. Alarcón Vinasco. A. Frontal view of flower and leaf B. Lateral view of inflorescence and flower. C. Habit and plant. Photographs by A: S. Viera-Uribe and B–C: J. S. Moreno.

FIGURE 4. Taxonomic illustration of Lepanthes abacheke T. Arias, J.S. Moreno & S.F. Alarcón Vinasco. A. Habit and plant. B. Frontal view of flower. C. Frontal view of dissected perianth. D. Lateral view of lip, column, appendix, and ovary. E. Frontal view of expanded lip and appendix. F. Pollinia and anther cap. Drawing by J. S. Moreno based on the holotype.

FIGURE 5. Comparison of Lepanthes abacheke T. Arias, J.S. Moreno & S.F. Alarcón Vinasco and species with taxonomic affinities. A. Lepanthes abacheke. B. Lepanthes cincinnata. C. Lepanthes gloriagaleanoana D. Lepanthes ortiziana. In-situ photographs by A: D. Cadavid, B–D: J. S. Moreno.

FIGURE 21. Currently known geographical distribution of new species collected during the Lepanthes de Colombia expedition. The country highlighted in grey is Colombia. The map was created in R, based on code adapted from Testo (2021).