Pleurothallis funerea (Barb.Rodr.) Cogn. 1896 SUBGENUS Specklinia SECTION Muscosae Lindl. 1842 Photo by © Peter Bryder and his Flickr Orchid Photo Website

Praemorsa type Photo by Ecuagenera and their Ecuador Orchid Website

Common Name or Meaning The Dark Pleurothallis [refers to the lip]

Flower Size .2" [5 mm]

Found in Fr Guiana, Guyana, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and northern Brazil in wet montane forests at elevations around 300 to 1600 [2400] meters as a mini-miniature sized, hot to warm growing epiphyte with erect ramicauls enveloped by 1 to 3, loose fitting, tubular, acuminate sheaths and carrying a single apical, erect, coriaceous, elliptic, minutely carinate and mucronate apically, gradually narrowing below into the petiolate base leaf that blooms on an erect, from the base of the leaf, 1.2" [3 cm] long, filiform, minutely white pubescent, successively few, single flowered inflorescence that lengthens and becomes fractiflex as blooming continues and has triangular, floral bracts.

CAUTION The first photo has hair that Luer does not show in his drawings, the second has much larger petals and the mid line on the lip so use with caution as I feel that neither of these are correct.

Kew has P breviscapa as a synonym of this species which it very well may be but I have them separate at this time.

Synonyms *Lepanthes funerea Barb.Rodr. 1891; Panmorphia funerea (Barb.Rodr.) Luer 2006; Pleurothallis praemorsa Luer 1978; Specklinia funerea (Barb.Rodr.) Luer 2004; Specklinia praemorsa (Luer) Luer 2004

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list, IPNI ; Flora de Venezuela Volumen 15 Parte 2 Foldats 1970 as P ciliolata drawing ok; Venezuelan Orchids Illustrated Vol 4 Dunsterville & Garay 1972 as P ciliolata drawing good; Orchids of Venezuela An Illustrated Field Guide Vol 2 Dunsterville & Garay 1979 as P ciliolata drawing good; Orchids of Venezuela [An illustrated field guide] Vol. 3 Ramiro and Carnevali 2000 drawing good; Native Ecuadorian Orchids Vol 4 Luer 2003 as P praemorsa photo fide for the 2nd photo; Flora of the Venezuelan Guayana Vol 7 Steyermark, Berry, Yatskievych and Holst 2003; Icones Pleurothallidinarum Vol XXVI Luer 2004 as Specklinia funerea; Icones Pleurothallidinarum Vol XXVI Luer 2004 as Specklinia praemorsa; Icones Pleurothallidinarum XXVIII Luer 2006 as Panmorphia funerea drawing fide for the first and ok for the second photo

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