Benzoscaphe Pupulin, 2025

Pupulin, Franco, Karremans, Adam P. & Salas Hidalgo, Elvira, 2025, A new nothogenus and nothospecies in the Zygopetalinae (Orchidaceae), with a note on euglossine pollination in the subtribe, PhytoKeys 266, pp. 33-52 : 33-52

× Benzoscaphe Pupulin nothogen. nov.

Type species.

× Benzoscaphe stelleri Pupulin, Karremans & E. Salas

Diagnosis.

Nothogenus novum caracteribus intermediis inter Benzingiam Dodson et Chondroscaphen (Dressler) Senghas et G. Gerlach. Folia viridi-grisacea sicut Benzingiarum species sed erecta prod pendulis sicut Chondroscapharum species; sepalis lateralibus omnino reflexis subuncinatis, basi petalorum ad columna adnata, pede columnae elongato Benzingiae similiter; inflorescentia suberecta prod pendula, petalis subtrapezoideis, labello callis duobus ornato, anthera elongata anguste ovata, polliniis elongatis valde curvatis supra stipitem rectangulo concavo-convexo viscidioque incrassato sicut Chondroscapharum species; floris magnitudo et forma labelli intermediis inter genera dignoscenda.

Description.

Epiphytic, caespitose, erect herbs with a tuft of leaves fan-like arranged. Roots slender, flexuous, whitish. Leaves narrowly elliptic, acuminate, with a short conduplicate petiole, grayish green, articulated with basal, ovate, conduplicate sheaths provided with hyaline margins. Inflorescence a single-flowered raceme, suberect, much shorter than the leaves. Floral bracts two, the outer bract larger, broadly ovate, loose, the inner bractlet lanceolate, smaller. Pedicellate ovary terete, gently curved toward the apex. Flower spreading, downward facing, the dorsal sepal porrect-recurved, the lateral sepals reflexed, subuncinate, the petals inserted along the basal side of the column, porrect with the apex gently recurved, the lip obscurely three-lobed, the lateral lobes erect, the midlobe geniculate-bent, with ruffled margins; disc with a median, irregularly dentate callus and a second thickening toward the apex of the midlobe. Column hemiterete, dilated around the stigma, provided with a long foot, the stigma transversal, slit-like, the clinandrium swallow, the anther ovate; pollinia 4 in two superposed pairs of different sizes, on a rectangular, erected stipe and a narrowly lanceolate, thick viscidium.

The new nothogenus presents intermediate features between the genera Benzingia (Fig. 1 ) and Chondroscaphe (Fig. 2 ). The leaves are grayish green with the epidermis somewhat prismatic, like in Benzingia , but they are held erect as in species of Chondroscaphe . The size of the flower is intermediate between the smaller flower of Benzingia (natural spread of flower ca. 3 cm) and larger ones typical of Chondroscaphe (spread flowers> 6 cm). The flower of the nothogenus is similar to that of Benzingia in the lateral sepals completely reflexed and uncinate at the apex, the base of the petals adnate to the margins of the column, and the elongate column foot. It resembles Chondroscaphe in the subtrapezoid petals, the lip provided with a basal callus and a distinct apical bulging, the narrowly ovate, elongate anther cap, and the shape of the pollinarium, with four elongate, distinctly curved pollinia lying over a rectangular, concave-convex stipe, attached to a thick viscidium.

Figures

Figure 1. Lankester Composite Digital Plate of Benzingia reichenbachiana. A. Habit; B. Flower; C. Dissected perianth; D. Ovary, column, and lip in three-quarters view; E. Lip in longitudinal section; F. column, several views; G. Pollinarium in dorsal, ventral, and lateral views: H. anther cap. Scale bars: 1 mm (G, H); 2 cm (D, E, F); 3 cm (C); 5 cm (A). Prepared by F. Pupulin from Pupulin 5159 (voucher at JBL-B 0354).

Figure 2. Lankester Composite Digital Plate of Chondroscaphe bicolor. A. Habit; B. Flower; C. Dissected perianth; D. Ovary, column, and lip in three-quarters view; E. Column in lateral and three-quarters views; F. Column in ventral view; G. Pollinarium in dorsal, ventral, and lateral views; H. Anther cap. Scale bars: 3 mm (G, H); 1 cm (D, E, F); 2 cm (B); 3 cm (C); 10 cm (A). Prepared by F. Pupulin from Bogarin 14717 (voucher at JBL-L 0130).