Microchilus riopalenquensis Ormerod 2004
Photo by Agencia Unal and The AgroNegocios Website
Drawing by A Krol/Szlachetko & Kolanowska 2017
EARLY
Common Name The Rio Palenque Microchilus [A river in Ecuador]
Flower Size .08" [2 mm]
Found in Tolima and Valle de Cauca departments of Colombia, Ecuador and Peru in swampy bushlands at elevations below 150 to 1150 meters as a small sized, hot to cool growing terrestrial with a short stem carrying 4 to 5, ovate, acute, petiolate base leaves that blooms in the late winter and early spring on an erect, terminal, pubescent, 10.6 [26.4 cm] long, peduncle to 8" [20 cm] long, provcided with 3, scattered, tubular, amplextant, acute, rachis 2.6" [to 6.4 cm] long, densely many [40] flowered inflorescence with lanceolate, acute, as long as the ovary floral bracts and carrying white, very sparsely pubescent externally flowers.
Ormerod compared this species to M. platanilloensis from which it differs by the ligulate-oblanceolate petals and narrower lobules of the epichile. M riopalenquensis can be confused with Microchilus fuscatus as both are one of the smallest in the genus, The flowers of M fuscatus are pubescent versus sparsely pubescent in M riopalenquensis, sepals are .176 to .2" [4.4 to 5 mm] long versus .116 to .12" [2.9 to 3 mm] long, the hypochile is ovate-cuneate versus subquadrate-cuneate and the spur is longer .112" versus .04" [2.8 mm versus 1 mm]
Synonyms
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ;
*Oasis Suppl. 1: 13 Ormerod 2004;
Materials to the Orchid Flora of Colombia Vol 1: 268 Szlachetko & Kolanowska 2017 drawing fide;
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