Habenaria eustachya Rchb.f.

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

Habenaria eustachya Rchb.f.

Description

Species Description - Plants slender to robust terrestrial herbs to 1 m tall. Roots slender, fleshy, villous, from base of shoot and tuber, 1.5-2.5 mm diam. Stems erect, partially covered by leaf sheaths. Leaves 8-15, cauline, sheathing; blades oblong-elliptic to broadly elliptic, acute to acuminate, to 15 cm long, 3 cm wide. Inflorescences erect, racemose, densely many-flowered, 4-30 cm long; floral bracts lanceolate, acuminate, not exceeding the flowers. Flowers green, resupinate. Pedicellate ovary erect, cylindrical, 12-16 mm long. Dorsal sepal ovate-round, concave, cucullate, 3.5-6 mm long, 2.5-3 mm wide; lateral sepals longer, ovate-elliptic, obtuse, falcate, reflexed-spreading. Petals simple with a minute basal tooth, oblong, truncate, slightly sinuate, 3.5-5 mm long, 1.5-2 mm wide. Lip simple, linear-lanceolate, 6-8 mm long; spur filiform, to 13 mm long. Column 2 mm long; stigmas lateral to the spur opening; pollinia attached to separate viscidia by caudicles 1.5-2 mm long. Fruits erect, cylindrical, 8-13 mm long.

Discussion

7. Habenaria eustachya Reichenbach f., Ber. Deutsch. Bot. Ges. 3: 274. 1885. Type: Sintenis 511b, from near Maricao, Puerto Rico (holotype, W ; isotype, AMES , not seen). Fig. 42E-G. Habenaria sanbornii Ames, Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash. 16: 117. 1903. Type. Ames & Leavitt 519, from Cayajobos, Pinar del Rio, Cuba, 29 Jan 1903 (holotype, AMES ; isotype, U S ). Phenology & Pollination. Flowering occurs in October and November. Pollinators and breeding system are unknown. Taxonomic Notes. Leaf shape and their orientation on the type specimen (at W ) are very similar to that of Habenaria odontopetala. The two species differ by the length of the spur (9-13 m m in H. eustachya and more than 20 m m in H. odontopetala) and by the minute basal teeth on the lip in H. odontopetala, which are lacking in H. eustachya. Most of the plants we assign to H. eustachya have floral morphology similar to Reichenbach's type but have leaves that are more like those of H. petalodes Lindley, a species of Central and South America. The latter species differs from H. eustachya in the floral details (longer spur and a bidentate lip as in H. odontopetala). Habenaria eustachya is a member of a species complex of striking floral and vegetative variability to which H. floribunda, H. petalodes, H. odontopetala, H. strictissima Reichenbach f., H. quadrata Lindley, and H. dentifera C. Schweinfurth belong (J. Renz, pers. comm.). The complex needs further study within Puerto Rico as well as throughout its range.

Distribution

Central America, Mexico, South America, and West Indies. Distribution in Puerto Rico. Known from Adjuntas, Aibonito, Cayey, Ceiba, Ciales, Lares, Manati, Maricao, Naguabo, Rio Grande, Sabana Grande, San German, and Villalba. Terrestrial in wet, disturbed sites and seepages at middle to high elevations (650-950 m); uncommon.

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