Basiphyllaea corallicola (Small) Ames

Authority

Ackerman, James D. 1995. An orchid flora of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 73: 1-203.

Family

Orchidaceae

Scientific Name

Basiphyllaea corallicola (Small) Ames

Description

Species Description - Plants terrestrial, glabrous herbs, to 36 cm tall. Roots whitish, few, 1-1.5 mm diam.; ellipsoid whitish tubers sometimes present, 10-20 mm long, 6-10 mm diam. Rhizomes fleshy, 2-20 mm long. Leaves solitary, slightly fleshy, conduplicate, entire, linear, 14-24 cm long, 4.0-6.5 mm wide. Scapes erect, arising from tuber, slender, delicate, ensheathed by leaf and 1-2 scarious bracts at base, naked above except for 2-3 inconspicuous bracts, 16-33 cm long, 0.3-1 mm diam.; racemes 1.3-10 cm long, simple, branches rarely forming from upper nodes of scape, 2- to 5-flowered. Flowers small, resupinate, nodding, perianth not fully spread. Pedicellate ovary 5-13 mm long. Sepals yellow-green, flat free, 5-nerved, linear-lanceolate, acute to acuminate, 7-12 mm long and 1.5-3 mm wide; lateral sepals slightly obliquefalcate. Petals yellow-green, slightly thinner in texture than the sepals, 3-nerved, slightly falcate, linear-elliptic, 7-12 mm long, 1-2 mm wide. Lip white, sometimes with pink markings at the margin of the middle lobe, 3-lobed, 5-8 mm long, 4-6 mm wide when spread; lateral lobes rounded, extending 1.0-1.5 mm short of the lip apex, forming narrow sinuses 1-1.5 mm deep; middle lobe 1.5-3 mm long, 2-3 mm wide near the apex, obovate, retuse, broadly apiculate; disc with 5 parallel lamellae, the middle 3 extending partway on the midlobe. Column semiterete, 4-5 mm long, basal wings flanking a shallow, lyre-shaped cavity. Fruits erect, ellipsoidal, 9-15 mm long.

Discussion

1. Basiphyllaea corallicola (Small) Ames, Sched. Orch. 7: 1. 1924. Carteria corallicola Small, Torreya 10: 188. 1910. Type. J. K. Small, J. J. Carter & A. A. Eaton s.n., from Everglade Keys, 2 mi N E of old trail and Long Prairie Crossing, 31 Oct 1906, Florida, U.S.A. (holotype, N Y ; isotype, P H , photograph seen). Fig. 1. Basiphyllaea angustifolia Schlechter, Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. 21: 338. 1925. Type. E. K. Ekman 17166, from Cuba (not seen, perhaps destroyed at B). Phenology & Pollination. Flowers from August to January, but mostly in late summer. In the Maricao Forest, flowers seem autogamous (judging from the high fruit set) and may not always open, but in Toa Baja, flowers are open and presumably insect-pollinated. Taxonomic Notes. Our plants were previously known as Basiphyllaea angustifolia, but Schlechter's detailed description of this species fits B. corallicola, a previously described species with which he was not familiar. Most of our plants differ from those of Florida and the Bahamas by having an entirely white lip instead of one with pink or magenta apical margins, but all other features are consistent. Some pink-lip forms occur in the Maricao Forest Reserve.

Distribution

General Distribution. Bahamas, Cuba, Florida (U.S.A.), Hispaniola, and Puerto Rico. Distribution in Puerto Rico. Collected from Maricao, Sabana Grande, San German, and Toa Baja. Habitat. Terrestrial in thick forest litter of limestone hills and in serpentine scrub forests at low to middle elevations (100- 750 m). Locally common in the Maricao Forest Reserve but frequently overlooked.

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