Dariusz Szlachetko

University of Gdansk | UG · Department of Plant Taxonomy and Nature Conservation

Masdevallia Ruiz. & Pav. in the broad concept comprises about 350 species distributed from southern Mexico to southern Brazil with the highest diversity in the Andes of Ecuador and Colombia, Peru, and Bolivia. Until now, only six species have been found in Guatemala. While studying the diversity of the orchid flora in this megadiverse country, we c...

A taxonomic synopsis of the orchid genus Pterichis in Ecuador is presented. All national representatives of this genus are characterized and their floral segments are illustrated. Four new species and two new varieties are described. An updated key to Ecuadorian Pterichis is provided. Plants of the genus are growing mostly as terrestrial herbs at t...

Polystachya is a large, pantropical orchid genus of 200 species, most of which occur as epiphytes in sub-saharan Africa. The three-lobed labellum of most Polystachya species possesses a fleshy callus and various types of trichomes and papillae. In this paper, we present the results of micromorphological studies on the labellum of 20 species, repres...

The genus Dasyglossum Königer & Schildh. (Orchidaceae), is recognized as a segregate of the Cyrtochilum-alliance and a new species of Dasyglossum is described from near Mocoa, department of Putumayo, Colombia.

The results of preliminary research on Colombian species of the orchid genus Crocodeilanthe are presented. Records of two species previously not reported from this country are provided. Forty-one new species are described and illustrated. An updated key for the identification of Colombian Crocodeilanthe species is presented. Additionally, it is pro...

Telipogon aureus Lindl. in G. Bentham (Orchidaceae) Described as a Peruvian-Ecuadorian Species is Reported as an Addition to the Flora of Colombia.

Telipogon guacamayensis Dodson & R. Escobar (Orchidaceae) Described as an Ecuadorian Species is Reported as an Addition to the Flora of Colombia.

The genus Rhetinantha M.A. Blanco was segregated from Maxillaria s.l. in 2007. It embraces about 20 species formerly classified in M. acuminata alliance, section Digammae Christenson and its distribution ranges from Mexico to Bolivia and Brazil. Representatives of Rhetinantha are subcaespitose to long rhizomatous with often ridged pseudobulbs. One...

A new species of Telipogon Kunth (Orchidaceae) is described from Santander, Colombia.

The genus Dasyglossum Königer & Schildh., (Orchidaceae) is recognized as a segregate of Cyrtochilum-alliance and a new species of Dasyglossum is reported from the Bota Caucana, Cauca, Colombia.

A new species of Caucaea Schltr. from Norte de Santander, Colombia is described.

The genus Cypripedium is one of five monophyletic genera within slipper orchids. Nuclear ribosomal ITS, nuclear low copy gene (ACO) and plastid data were used for molecular clock analyses. According to these analyses, the most recent common ancestor of Cypripedium appeared in the early Eocene. The Irapeana section is the oldest phylogenetic line wi...

Cranichis crenatifolia Kolan. & Szlach. sp. nova (Orchidaceae) from the Colombian department of Putumayo is described and illustrated. It can be easily distinguished from all other members of the Pleioneura group in Cranichis by crenate and undulate leaf margins and hairy petals. It also differs from the somewhat similar C. atrata by having an obov...

A new species of Epidendrum, E. cusiyacoense, is described and illustrated based on Colombian material. The novelty belongs to the ‘Garayi subgroup’ and resembles the Ecuadorian endemic E. ilinizae, but is distinguished by the oblong‐lanceolate leaf which is over five times longer than wide, 2‐flowered inflorescence and entire, papillate lip margin...

Platanthera Rich. is a genus of ca. 125 species with a predominantly Northern Hemisphere distribution. A recent monograph of the genus did not cite important material from New Guinea. On the island the genus is represented by species from the tropical section Mecosa (Blume) Kraenzl. of subgenus Platanthera, which are not widely represented in herba...

Lepanthopsis undulata Kolan. & Szlach. sp. nova (Orchidaceae) is described and illustrated based on material collected in Colombia. It resembles L. peniculus from which it differs by having a smaller lip with undulate, obliquely triangular-ovate lateral lobes with somewhat elevated apical parts of lateral veins; and in the middle lobe of lip being...

This article is a presentation of taxonomic diversity of the orchid genusCyrtochilumin Northwestern South America. The morphological characteristics of over 90 speciesoccurring in northern Peru, Ecuador, Colombia and Venezuela are presentedtogether with illustrations of theirfloral segments. Information about the distributionof each taxon is provid...

The genus Sauvetrea Szlach. (Orchidaceae) was segregated from Maxillaria sensu lato in 2007. It embraces a group of from 10 to nearly 20 species, all initially defined as Maxillaria sect. Trigonae. Sauvetrea can be easily distinguished from closely related Rhetinantha M.A.Blanco by the lip callus. During the revision of the materials stored in AMES...

Molecular phylogenetics has now provided a new approach to the taxonomy of Oncidiinae and related taxa. The concepts of numerous previously accepted genera and their interrelations have been brought into question. One of the most significant changes in the systematics of Oncidium-like orchids concern the recognition of Gomesa and its closely allied...

A new species of the orchid genus Ornithocephalus, O. leslie-garayi, is described and illustrated based on Colombian material. The novelty resembles O. kruegeri and O. caveroi. It differs from the former by the lip being strongly constricted between hypo-and epichile, the hypochile being ornamented with glandular, fleshy hairs exclusively in the ba...

In 1984, Benjamin Øllgaard and his colleagues during their expedition to Ecuador discovered a new species of Elleanthus (Orchidaceae). They deposited the original material in the Missouri Botanical Garden Herbarium but they failed to publish a description of their discovery. A few years later in 1991, Calaway H. Dodson named it Elleanthus ollgardii...

The first report on pollination of two Neotropical orchid species, Masdevallia floribunda Lindl., M. tuerckheimii Ames and their hybrid by fruit flies is presented. Two presumably undescribed species of the genus Zygothrica, tentatively named as Zygothrica spec. 1 and spec. 2, were observed as pollinators. The distinct hypercephaly in the examined...

Szlachetko D. L., Olędrzyńska N. & Lipińska M. M. 2019. Three new species of the genus Rhetinantha (Orchidaceae) from Colombia and Peru. – Phyton (Horn, Austria) 59 (1–2): 49–53, with 7 figures.* The genus Rhetinantha has been segregated from Maxillaria sensu lato in 2007 by Blanco & al. It embraces about 20 species formerly classified in the M. ac...

Heteranthocidium universitas-lodziensis, a new orchid species from Ecuador is described and illustrated. Morphologically, the novelty resembles H. echinops and H. hirtzii but differs from these taxa by having unequal tepals with petals being longer than the dorsal sepal, apically retuse petals, lip being broader than long and ornamented with a pand...

The neotropical genus Encyclia has been described in 1828 by Hooker. It comprises over 150 species of orchids that occupy mainly seasonally dry habitats in tropical and subtropical America and are usually restricted to one or a few ecoregions. The phylogeny of Encylia has been subjected to an extended investigation since the beginning of the 20th c...

The geographical range of the orchid genus Cranichis extends from USA, Central America, and the Caribbean to Bolivia and Argentina—with the greatest diversity observed in the Andean region. This taxon embraces herbs with the scape and basal leaves developing from a single, terminal bud and having the scape enclosed in several sheaths. The small, no...

A new species of the orchid genus Myoxanthus, M. oliviae, is described based on Peruvian material. The novelty resembles M. serripetalus from which it differs by the 7‐8‐veined lateral sepals (vs 6‐ or 9‐veined), the petals contracted below the apex and expanded again into sagittate apex (vs apex caudate) and the entire lip middle lobe (vs. fimbria...

During the studies on Pleurothallidinae (Orchidaceae), a new species of Lepanthes with unusual connate petals was discovered in Colombian material. Hereby we describe it as Lepanthes torquipetala Szlach. & Archila, sp. nova. In this article, we provide its morphological description and an illustration, and briefly discuss its taxonomic position.

The Neotropical orchid genus Ponthieva R. Br. was established in 1813. The 70 representatives of this taxon are terrestrial, lithophytic, or epiphytic plants with basal, sessile, or petiolate leaves which are glabrous or pubescent. Their erect peduncle is pubescent and terminated by lax, few-to many-flowered raceme. Flowers are non-resupinate, with...

Two new species of the orchid genus Quekettia are described. Colombian Quekettia aureliae is distinguished from similar Q. microscopica by the pandurate lip with a pair of small, flap‐like calli in the isthmus between hypo‐ and epichile, and deeply emarginated epichile apex. Quekettia senghasiana found in Guyana resembles Q. papillosa but it is cha...

Prescottia sibundoyensis S. Nowak, Kolan., Medina Tr. & Szlach. sp. nova (Orchidaceae) is described and illustrated from Colombia. It resembles P. lojana, but differs from it by hyaline-white, crisped-dentate leaf blade margins and prominent floral bracts. Prescottia sibundoyensis can also be distinguished by its long leaf petiole, truncate leaf ba...

The genus Cuitlauzina is comprised of species of horticultural interest and is relatively well known. Hitherto six species have been recognized, all of them reported in Mesoamerica. Recently, new explorations in Guatemala revealed the existence of an undescribed taxon. In this article we describe it as Cuitlauzina cariasii, a striking novelty from...

Pterichis aragogiana Kolan. & Szlach. sp. nova (Orchidaceae) is described and illustrated based on Ecuadorian material. It can be distinguished from other species of sect. Pterichis by the narrow, almost linear petals, sepals with almost caudate apical portions, prominent lip middle lobe which is longer than the basal part of the lip, and by the ap...

Three new species of the Neotropical orchid genus Telipogon, T. tachirensis, T. ventaquemadensis and T. amiro-medinae, are described and illustrated. All novelties are characterized by a non-hairy gynostemium. They may be distinguished from similar taxa based on inflorescence form, relative petal size as well as lip shape, venation and ornamentatio...

A new species of the orchid genus Stellilabium is described and illustrated based on Colombian material. It can be distinguished from the similar species S. pogonostalix and S. andinum based on the lip middle lobe surface (ciliate only along middle part of margins), rounded lip apex and lower part of gynostemium being minutely ciliate with tufts co...

Andinia panica, previously known exclusively from the type locality in Ecuador, is reported for the first time from Colombia. Characteristic of population found in Valle de Sibundoy is provided together with photographs of the specimen and information about its habitat. Moreover, the comparative morphology of species included in Andinia subgenus Mi...

The orchid genus Dipteranthus, described by Rodrigues in 1882, comprises about 10 species distributed from Venezuela to Bolivia and Brazil. Plants of Dipteranthus are small epiphytes, reaching in total up to 10 cm in length, hence, are easily overlooked in the field. Modern classification of Dipteranthus is still under discussion. During the revisi...

The name Guatemala derives from the Nahuatl word "Quauhtlemallan", and means "Land of trees". The name was given by the abundance of forest covering the country. Guatemala has a large number of ecosystems due to the diversified rainfall regime and diverse topographic relief, allowing a speed process of plant diversification, that has led to high le...

Campylocentrum includes over 70 species distributed throughout tropical America. In this paper a synopsis of this genus in Colombia is presented. The occurrence of 16 species of Campylocentrum in this country was confirmed. Morphological characteristics of all the species are presented and illustrated by line drawings of their perianth segments. A...

The specific diversity of Neotropical orchid genus Frondaria is evaluated based on morphological data. Frondaria was considered a monospecific taxon for years; however, our recent studies on Andean orchids indicated that it is actually much more variable. Within Colombian material, we found a species which does not fit the morphological description...

The aim of the paper is to present materials to the taxonomic revision of the African orchid genus Bilabrella Lindl., based on herbarium materials, specimens conserved in FAA as well as literature. It was compiled using classical taxonomic methods. The research involved determining differences between Bilabrella and other genera of Habenariinae in...

Rhynchostylis cymifera Yohannan, J.Mathew and Szlach., a new orchid species from Nilambur Forests, part of the southern Western Ghats, India, is here described and illustrated. Taxonomic descriptions, morphological differences to their allied taxa and colour photographs are provided to facilitate identification in the field.

Orchids are well known as one of the most advanced groups of plants in the context of adaptation to different forms of zoogamy. The pollination by flies (myophily), with all its variations, is the second most popular pollination pathway in the Orchidaceae, with pollination by species of about 20 families of Diptera being known. Masdevallia Ruiz. &...

Exalaria glabriflora Szlach. & Kolan. (Orchidaceae, Cranichidinae) discovered in Peruvian herbarium material deposited in Harvard University Herbaria is described and illustrated. It can be distinguished from E. parviflora by its glabrous floral bracts and sepals, oblong petals, 2-veined lateral sepals, 3-veined lip with larger middle lobe constitu...

Guatemala is a relatively small country in term of size, but its geographical and biological diversity is enormous. It is estimated that about 8,000 species of vascular plants can be found there, many of them are endemic. Its orchid richness is impressive and for many years poorly studied. It ranges from a little more than 100 species mentioned by...

Trichosalpinx carinatus Rykaczewski, Szlach. & Kolan. (Orchidaceae) of the T. dependens complex is described and illustrated as a new species from Colombia. It is easily distinguishable from similar species by its unique, glabrous sheaths of the ramicaul as well as by the presence of a six-veined synsepal and an entire callus on the lip. Keys to id...

The orchid genus Palmorchis consists of 34 species distributed in Central and South America. It is one of the most poorly known genera of the Orchidaceae. With vegetative organs resembling the seedlings of palm trees and having inconspicuous flowers, its representatives have rarely drawn the attention of botanists, resulting in scarce availability...

A new species from Madagascar, Lesliegraecum elzbietae Mytnik,Szlach. & Olędrz. (Orchidaceae, Angraecinae) is described and illustrated. Morphological description is complemented with data of the species ecology and distribution. The taxonomic affinities of the new taxon are discussed and key to determination of all Lesliegraecum representatives is...

Three new species of Brevilongium from Colombia are described and illustrated: Brevilongium callejasii Szlach., Kolan. & Skorowska, Brevilongium schultesii Szlach., Kolan. & Skorowska, and Brevilongium chitaraquensis Szlach., Kolan. & Skorowska, The taxonomic affinities of the novelties within the genus are discussed. Including the species describe...

Disperis tomaszii (Orchidaceae, Orchidoideae) from Cameroon is described and illustrated in this study. The new species is morphologically similar to Disperis nitida and Disperis thomensis. Phylogenetic analyses of selected DNA regions (ITS, matK) indicate a possible relationship between the new species and Disperis anthoceros and Disperis diceroch...

The name Elleanthus thomasii (Orchidaceae) was used by Dodson for a specimen collected during an expedition to Ecuador [MO: Dodson et al. 17076 ]. The name was written only on the label of the herbarium sheet and it has never been published properly and validly. The aim of this paper is to validate the name Elleanthus thomasii. Additionally, we pro...

The first natural hybrid in the section Irapeana of the orchid genus Cypripedium is described and illustrated based on Guatemalan material. A molecular evaluation of the discovery is provided. Specimens with intermediate flowers between C. irapeanum and C. dickinsonianum within ITS and Xdh sequences have the signal sequence of both these species. T...

Alignment of XDH gene of analysed taxa

Chromatogram files (.abi) of hybrid

Spatial-filtered dataset of localities of C. irapeanum, C. molle and C. dickinsonianum used in the ENM analysis

Alignment of matK gene of analysed taxa

Alignment of ITS of analysed taxa

Complete database of localities of C. irapeanum, C. molle and C. dickinsonianum gathered during the studies

Frequency of the ovules contained embryos or ovules that were unfertilized within four ovaries of C. × fred-mulleri No. –number of the ovary; n, number of ovules analyzed in each ovary; standard error, bars.

Two new species of the orchid genus Brachionidium are described and illustrated based on Colombian material. Both novelties are relatively large, stout and erect plants characterized by the presence of a glabrous callus lip. Brachionidium elzbietae sp. nov. resembles B. tuberculatum from which it differs by the long-tailed sepals and lip lacking a...

A new species of Lepanthes is described and illustrated based on the material collected during field work in Guatemala. Lepanthes swartzii is similar to L. pantomima Luer & Dressler and L. arachnion Luer & Dressler from which it differs by 1-veined petals, lip with incurved basal lobes and obtuse apex, and by circular leaves with smooth margins. Id...

The Neotropical orchid genus Ocampoa A. Rich.&Galeotti was established as a monospecific taxon in 1845. Its generic separateness was questioned twice, and various authors included O. mexicana A. Rich&Galeotti in Cranichis Sw. or Ponthieva R. Br. The restitution of Ocampoa was proposed in 2013, and it was accompanied with a description of a second s...

Current and expected changes in global climate are major threat for biological diversity affecting individuals, communities and ecosystems. However, there is no general trend in the plants response to the climate change. The aim of present study was to evaluate impact of the future climate changes on the distribution of holomycotrophic orchid speci...

Les collectes de plantes terrestres appartenant à la famille Orchidaceae réalisées par le premier auteur ont permis la découverte de plusieurs espèces nouvelles. L'une d'elles est ici présentée, décrite et illustrée. Elle est comparée à son plus proche parent, Prescottia stachyodes. A new species within the genus Prescottia (Orchidaceae, Cranichidi...

L'analyse morphologique comparée d'une population de Restrepia trouvée dans les montagnes de Coban, au Guatemala avec les autres espèces du genre a permis d'établir qu'il s'agissait d'une nouvelle espèce. Elle est ici décrite, illustrée et comparée avec son plus proche parent, Restrepia vasquezii. Le disque basal du gynostème semble constituer un b...

A phylogenetic study of Sobralia (Orchidaceae) confirmed the polyphyletic character of the genus. Sobralia also appears to be highly heteromorphic in the morphology, especially considering the position and architecture of inflorescence, lip form and kind of its outgrowths, length and form of stelidia of column. The infrageneric relationship of Sobr...

The genus Pterichis Lindl. encompasses terrestrial orchids characterized by tuberous roots, rosulate leaves, non-resupinate flowers with floral bracts, and ovaries densely ciliate or pubescent. The concave lip of the genus representatives is usually ornamented with a series of knoblike or clavate cells. The geographical range of Pterichis extends f...

Six new species of Maxillaria are described and illustrated based on material collected in southern Colombia. The taxonomic affinities of the new entities are discussed and information about their habitat and ecology is provided. Additionally, photographs of all new species are presented.

Trichosalpinx ollgaardiana Rykaczewski, Kolan. and Szlach. (Orchidaceae) is described and illustrated as a new species from Ecuador and placed in the subgenus Trichosalpinx. It is similar to T. crucilabia and T. quitensis, from which it differs by long-connate lateral sepals, ligulate-spathulate petals with irregular apical margins, a prominent lip...

Background The generic separateness and specific composition of the orchid genus Cyrtochilum was discussed for almost two centuries. Over the years several smaller taxa were segregated from this taxon, but their separateness was recently questioned based on molecular studies outcomes. The aim of our study was to revise concepts of morphological-bas...

Two new species of Cyrtochilum are described and illustrated based on Colombian material. Both novelties are characterized by the triangular lip with basal callus and free petal apices. Information about the habitat of the new species and their distribution maps are presented.

Se describe una nueva especie de orquídea del género Brasolia (Sobralia) de Los Andes de Perú.

Vietorchis AVER. & AVERYANOVA is regarded as congeneric with Silvorchis J. J. SMITH. It belongs to Orchidaceae-Orchidoideae-Orchideae-Orchidinae. The new combination Silvorchis furcata (AVER. & NURALIEV) OLEDRZ. & SZLACH. is presented here. Vietorchidinae are reduced to a synonym of Orchidinae.

Two new species of Cryptocentrum are described and illustrated based on Colombian plant material. Cryptocentrum vallecaucanum KOLAN., LIPINSKA & SZLACH., spec. nova is characterized by the low number of sheaths enclosing the peduncle, the extremely short lip and relatively small petals. Cryptocentrum schlechterianum KOLAN., LIPINSKA & SZLACH., spec...

A new species of Telipogon, T. sibundoyensis Szlach., Kolan. & Medina Tr. (Orchidaceae-Vandoideae-Telipogoninae), is described and illustrated. So far, the new entity is known from few localities of the Colombian Andes. The novelty resembles T. andinus d odSon from which it differs by the presence of a prominent, thick, basal lip rim, which is dens...

Five new species of Microchilus from Costa Rica, Panama, Peru, and Venezuela are described and illustrated: M. peruvianus Szlach. & Kolan. (characterized by apically rounded petals, unconstricted lip hypochile and sessile lip epichile with triangular middle lobule), M. pilosus Szlach. & Kolan. (unconstricted, ovate-triangular lip hypochile, cordate...

Two new species of the Neotropical orchid genus Stellilabium are described and illustrated based on Colombian material. Their taxonomic affinities as well as their systematic position and its relation to related genera is discussed.

The generic separateness of Oncidium, Ornithophora and Sigmatostalix is evaluated based on morphological data. A comparative morphology of the studied genera is provided. The first infrageneric classification of Sigmatostalix is presented. One new combination on the species level is proposed.

The generic delimitation within Trichocentrum clade is discussed in the light of molecular and morphological research results. The comparative morphology of Trichocentrum, Cohniella, Lophiaris, Lophiarella, Saundersia and Grandiphyllum is presented together with a key for their identification. Morphological characteristics of the studied taxa are p...

A close study of Sobralia dorbignyana Rchb. f. revealed that flowers of this species are red, not white as stated in the literature on the subject. We discovered that S. semperflorens Kraenzl., which is commonly treated as a synonym of S. dorbinyana, deserves the status of separate species. We also give a detailed description of S. sobralioides who...

A new species of Christensonella (Orchidaceae, Maxillariinae) is described and illustrated based on herbarium material. Th e most important characters of Christensonella ecallosa Lipi ń ska & Szlach. are the ovate lip, with transversely elliptic middle lobe, minutely dentate margins and very obscure lip callus, which forms an elevated thick pad nea...

Different morphological characters are presented in favour of the separation of Acropera and Gongora, two genera regarded as synonyms by various authors. Two new species are proposed, one within Acropera and one within Gongora, and compared to their closest relatives. Finally four new combinations in Acropera are validated.

A new species of Telipogon, T. schneideri, is described and illustrated based on Colombian material. The newly described taxon is distinguished from T. falcatus by the lanceolate, non-falcate petals, which are conspicuously longer than the sepals, and by the lip that is densely covered by hispid hairs up to the margins. Information about habitat, e...

Title page, table of contents and acknowledgments to download here. The book is available at Koeltz Botanical Books: http://www.koeltz.com/product.aspx?pid=210932.

El estudio de la biodiversidad neotropical ha permitido el hallazgo de nuevas especies y el enriquecimiento de los inventarios botánicos. La Familia Orchidaceae es sin duda alguna un taxón de gran riqueza principalmente en el neotrópico, prueba de ello se describe una nueva especie de Rhetinantha para Guatemala, se incluye su descriptor, diagnosis...

Dendrobium anilii P.M. Salim, J. Mathew & Szlach., a new orchid species from Wayanad, part of the southern Western Ghats, India, is described. Diagnostic morphological characters, distribution, and photographs of the new species are presented. Dendrobium anilii resembles D. anamalayanum and D. diodon subsp. kodayarensis in its appearance but differ...