!Acostaea costaricensis Schltr.1923 Photo by © Adam Karremans

Common Name or Meaning The Costa Rican Acostea

Flower Size 1/16" [5 mm]

A miniature sized, caespitose epiphyte from Ecuador, Colombia, Panama and Costa Rica at 100 to 1000 meters in elevation on mossy limbs in cool, moist tropical forests with orange and guava trees in extremly wet cloud forests with a short ramicaul enveloped basally by 2 to 3 tubular sheaths and carrying a single, apical, elliptic, obtuse, gradually narrowing below into the conduplicate, petilolate base lead where they can flower at any time of the year on an erect, successively few flowered, fractiflex scape with a single flower at a time held well above the leaves.

Synonyms Acostaea costaricensis subsp. colombiana (Garay) Luer 1987; Acostaea glandulata P.Ortiz 1982; Acostaea pleurothalloides Schltr. 1923; Specklinia colombiana (Garay) Pridgeon & M.W.Chase 2001; Specklinia mirifica Pridgeon & Chase 2001

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; Lankester's Epidendra Website CR ; *Repert. Sp. Nov. Regni Veg. Beih. 19: 284. 1923; Repert. Sp. Nov. Regni Veg. Beih. 19: 285. 1923 as A pleurothalloides; Systematics of the Pleurothallidinae Vol 1 1986; Icones Pleurothallidinarum Systematics of Acostea, Condylago and Porroglossum Vol 4 1987; Native Colombian Orchid Vol 1 COS 1990; The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Orchds Pridgeon 1992; Icones Planetarum Tropicarum Dodson 1980; Orchids of Panama Williams 1980; The Field Guide to the Orchids Of Costa Rica and Panama Dressler 1993; Icones Pleurothallidarum IV Luer 1987; Lindleyana Vol 16 No 4 2001 as Specklinia mirifica; Orquideas de la Serrania del Baudo Misas Urreta 2006;

Acostaea costaricensis subsp. colombiana (Garay) Luer 1987 Photo courtesy of Arturo Carillo

Form found in Colombia