Microchilus maasii Ormerod 2007
TYPE Drawings by Paul Ormerod and Harvard Pap. Bot. 11: 162 fig 18 & 19 Ormerod 2009
Common Name Maas' Microchilus [a City in Tolima Colombia]
Flower Size .12" [3 mm]
Found in Cartago province of Costa Rica and Cocle province of Panama in disturbed primary forests, remnant forests and near forest edges at elevations around 600 to 1200 meters as a medium sized, warm to cool growing terrestrial or occasionall epiphyte with a terete rhizome giving rise to an erect [sometimes lower half decumbent], terete stem carrying up to 4 to 10, obliquely oblong-elliptic, ovate-elliptic to broadly elliptic, acute to subacuminate, petiolate base leaves that blooms in the fall on an erect, terminal, pubescent, 6.76 to 16" [17.8 to 40 cm] long, peduncle 3.28 to 8.28" [8.2 to 20.7 cm] long, provided with a 4 to 16 sheathing bracts, rachis 2.3 to 9.2" [5.5 to 23 cm] long, subdensely to densely many flowered inflorescence with ovate-lanceolate, acute, greenish, cream brown to reddish brown, much shorter than than the the ovary floral bracts and carrying externally pubescent white, dirty white, yellow brown, reddish brown or green with brown purple flowers with the lip and spur white and the pollina yellow.
"The larger forms (holotype included) of this species are very similar to the Colombian M. micayvallis but differ from that taxon in having a slightly shorter pedicellate ovary .22 to .24" versus .28" (5.5 to 6 vs. 7 mm), broader petals .056 to .072" versus .04" (1.4 to 1.8 vs 1 mm) and a shorter column .136 to .152" versus .16" (3.40-3.85 vs. 4 mm). Some forms of M. maasii from Costa Rica (e.g. Bello 1048, 2809; Haber 7360) have almost triangular epichile lobules. These are however connected to the typical form by intermediate plants (e.g. Fuentes 421) which have ovate-lanceolate epichile lobules. I have therefore provided two illustrations of M. maasii to show the extremes in variation." Ormerod 2007
Synonyms Microchilus campanensis Kolan. 2014 nom. illeg; Microchilus dressleri Kolan. 2015
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ;
* Harvard Pap. Bot. 11: 161 Ormerod 2007
Harvard Pap. Bot. 11: 162 fig 18 Ormerod 2009 drawing fide;
Harvard Pap. Bot. 11: 162 fig 19 Ormerod 2009 drawing fide;
Polish Bot. J. 59: 185 Kolan. 2014 as M campanensis nom.;
Phytotaxa 208: 182 Kolan. 2015 as M dressleri illeg.
Materials to the Orchid Flora of Colombia Vol 1: 324 Szlachetko & Kolanowska 2017 as M dressleri drawing fide;
Materials to the Orchid Flora of Colombia Vol 1: 330 Szlachetko & Kolanowska 2017 as M maasii drawing fide;
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