Franco Pupulin

• University of Costa Rica

Orchidaceae is one of the most prominent flowering plant families, with many species exhibiting highly specialized reproductive and ecological adaptations. An estimated 10% of orchid species in the American tropics are pollinated by scent-collecting male euglossine bees; however, to date, there are no published genomes of species within this pollin...

The fourth release of the series "New Species and Records of Orchidaceae from Costa Rica" documents and illustrates 17 taxa of the Costa Rican orchid flora. The new species records belong to the subtribes Pleurothallidinae (9 spp.), Maxillariinae (3 spp.), and Oncidiinae (2 spp.), including the description of two new species in Pleurothallis and Te...

Una guia práctica para la confección de láminas de disección digitales de plantas, con énfasis en Orchidaceae.

The Neotropical genus Telipogon (Orchidaceae: Oncidiinae), comprising approximately 250 species, exhibits remarkable species diversity in the humid, montane forests of southern Central America and the Tropical Andes. Telipogon, when broadly defined, encompasses both the large-flowered species that mimic tachinid flies and the small-flowered species...

This study presents an updated comprehensive catalogue of the Costa Rican orchid flora. We have documented 1684 species, four subspecies, 14 natural hybrids, and seven forms across 201 genera and two nothogenera, × Bensteinia and × Cochlezella. All Orchidaceae subfamilies are represented except for Apostasioideae. The subtribe Pleurothallidinae acc...

Rudolf Schlechter (1872–1925) described several orchid taxa based on specimens collected in Costa Rica during the first half of the 20th century. Unfortunately, the type material kept at the Botanical Museum of Berlin-Dahlem (B) was destroyed in the bombing of Berlin, Germany, in 1943. To complete the typification of names proposed by Schlechter, b...

Echinosepala truncata is described as new to science and illustrated from the holotype. It is compared with E. tomentosa , from which it differs by the sparsely lanate ovary, the narrowly obovate, apically rounded synsepal, the spathulate, apically and basally rounded petals, and the rectangular, apically truncate lip. The phylogenetic relationship...

The typification of 53 orchid species described by Rudolf Schlechter based on specimens gathered in Costa Rica by Paul (Pablo) Biolley, Juan José Cooper Sandoval, Auguste R. Endrés, Carl Hoffmann, Emel Jiménez Segura, Otón Jiménez, Friedrich Carl Lehmann, Ferdinand Nevermann, Richard Pfau, and Henry Pittier in the late 19th and early 20th centuries...

The name Rodriguezia inconspicua, proposed as a replacement name for Trichocentrum candidum, is a homotypic synonym of the latter, as well as the new combinations based on the same name. The genus Hybochilus, typified by Rodriguezia inconspicua, is reduced into synonymy under Trichocentrum. A new combination, Leochilus candelariae, is proposed to a...

Morphological description and Natural History of Mormolyca ringens

Barra Honda National Park (BHNP) lies in the Tempisque River Basin of the Península de Nicoya, Guanacaste, Costa Rica. The Park is well known for its limestone caverns, which date from the Upper Paleocene–Lower Eocene and are the main attraction of BHNP. The area shows a marked climatic seasonality with a predominantly semideciduous tropical dry fo...

We discuss a group of Pleurothallis species mostly characterized by plants relatively tall for the genus, with stems more than 20 cm long and fasciculate inflorescences produced above the leaf from a spathaceous, sometimes erect bract. We recognize 26 species and 4 natural hybrids in Costa Rica in this group of Pleurothallis, belonging to 4 informa...

A new species of Muscarella from Costa Rica, is described and illustrated.

A new species of Muscarella from Costa Rica, is described and illustrated. Muscarella tapantiensis most resembles M. coeloglossa but differs in the longer pedicels (3-5 vs. 1-2 mm), the shorter (2.5-2.8 vs. 3.75 mm), connate (vs. free) lateral sepals, and the lip with triangular (vs. broadly rounded) lower lateral lobes. Muscarella xanthella also r...

The true Lepanthes edwardsii is first recorded for the flora of Costa Rica, described and illustrated on the basis of a Costa Rican voucher. The taxon previously recorded under that name is described as new to science as Lepanthes bogariniana; it is closely related to L. edwardsii, L. durikäensis, and L. viquezii, but can be distinguished by the na...

We provide a general introduction to the prodromi to Flora Costaricensis, and an introduction to the precursors of subtribe Pleurothallidinae. We present a systematic revision of the genus Echinosepala for the flora of Costa Rica and a detailed discussion of molecular evidence with regard to most Costa Rican taxa, aimed at phylogenetically framing...

Collecting localities of A.R. Endrés in Costa Rica with detailed itineraries of his travels

A confirmed genus for the Costa Rican orchid flora

A new and florally unusual species of the genus Dichaea is described and illustrated from Costa Rica, where it is apparently endemic, and its relationships are discussed. Dichaea auriculata is compared with the group of species close to D. graminoides , from which it can be distinguished by the lip with a long isthmus, provided with two rounded aur...

Description and Natural History of Vanda tricolor subsp. suavis

A new form of Maxillaria sanguinea with pale, yellowish and white flowers, is described from Costa Rica as f. exsanguis, and a composite illustration of the new taxon is provided.

The identity of Polycycnis barbata is discussed and, upon examination of the type, the name is lectotypified and synonymized under the species with erect, small-flowered inflorescence traditionally known as P. muscifera. The large-flowered species of Polycycnis from Costa Rica and northwestern Panama is described as P. grandiflora and illustrated b...

The new genus Pridgeonia, and eight new orchid species in the genera Benzingia, Daiotyla, Dichaea, Ixyophora, and Pridgeonia, all belonging to the subtribe Zygopetalinae, are described. Complete descriptions, with notes on etymology, habitat, and ecology, and discussion of phylogenetic affinities, are provided for each new taxon, supplemented with...

A new species of Phragmipedium section Lorifolia, P. cabrejosii, is described and illustrated from Peru, and its affinities are discussed. It is mainly compared with P. caricinum, from which it is distinguished by the simple inflorescence, the elliptic dorsal sepal, that is apically white, the shorter, apically twisted pale yellow petals tinged wit...

Description and Natural History of Cocheanthes aromatica

Taxonomic delimitations are challenging because of the convergent and variable nature of phenotypic traits. This is evident in species-rich lineages, where the ancestral and derived states and their gains and losses are difficult to assess. Phylogenetic comparative methods help to evaluate the convergent evolution of a given morphological character...

Taxonomic delimitations are challenging because of the convergent and variable nature of phenotypic traits. This is evident in species-rich lineages, where the ancestral and derived states and their gains and losses are difficult to assess. Phylogenetic comparative methods help to evaluate the convergent evolution of a given morphological character...

Phragmipedium is a genus with 21 species restricted to the tropics and subtropics from Central and South America. As it is a genus capable of producing seeds from both self-and cross-pollinated flowers, it is an ideal group to investigate the components of its reproductive success. In this research, some of those components are described in P. long...

Phragmipedium is a genus with 21 species restricted to the tropics and subtropics from Central and South America. As it is a genus capable of producing seeds from both self- and cross-pollinated flowers, it is an ideal group to investigate the components of its reproductive success. In this research some of those components are described in P. long...

The species traditionally included under the synonymy of Trichocentrum albococcineum are re-evaluated, and T. orthoplectron is reinstated as a separate species. A new species of Trichocentrum from Bolivia, T. moreniorum, is described and illustrated, and its relationships with other species of the genus are discussed. A key to the species of the Tr...

The taxonomic history of Phragmipedium × grande is traced to show that its current treatment as the cross between P. longifolium and P. humboldtii is untenable. According to our interpretation of the holotype and other materials prepared from specimens of the original cross, the name Phragmipedium × grande, as well as its counterpart, the orchid gr...

Species Orchidacearum is a serial publication. It is published in volumes, freely available online, and peer-reviewed. Icons from any author are received, they may treat any species of the Orchidaceae family, from any country, previously published or not, as long as they comply with the author’s instructions. The main goal of the series is to make...

Phylogenetic relationships in species complexes and lineages derived from rapid diversifications are often challenging to resolve using morphology or standard DNA barcoding markers. The hyper-diverse genus Lepanthes from Neotropical cloud forest includes over 1200 species and many recent, explosive diversifications that have resulted in poorly supp...

Pleurothallidinae (Epidendreae) are a megadiverse Neotropical orchid subtribe comprising > 5100 species, most of which are probably pollinated by Diptera. The role of pollinators as drivers of species diversity is largely unknown because knowledge of pollination systems in Pleurothallidinae is still scarce. Here, we addressed the pollination of Tri...

Pleurothallidinae (Epidendreae) are a megadiverse Neotropical orchid subtribe comprising > 5100 species, most of which are probably pollinated by Diptera. The role of pollinators as drivers of species diversity is largely unknown because knowledge of pollination systems in Pleurothallidinae is still scarce. Here, we addressed the pollination of Tri...

Species Orchidacearum is a serial publication. It is published in volumes, freely available online, and peer-reviewed. Icons from any author are received, they may treat any species of the Orchidaceae family, from any country, previously published or not, as long as they comply with the author’s instructions. The main goal of the series is to make...

We describe and illustrate two new species of Echinosepala from Costa Rica, they are placed within a phylogenetic framework of the genus, and compared to their closest relatives. A short resume of the genus’ history is given, reviewing the main characters that have been used to group its species at various taxonomic ranks. Echinosepala expolita is...

Two new species of Pleurothallis subsection Macrophyllae-Fasciculatae from Costa Rica, allied to P. cardiothallis, are described and illustrated, and their relationships discussed. Pleurothallis scotinantha is compared with P. oncoglossa, from which it can be easily distinguished by the concolorous, dark purple flowers , the distinctly deflexed pet...

Two new species of Pleurothallis subsection Macrophyllae-Fasciculatae from Costa Rica are described and illustrated, and their relationships discussed. Pleurothallis pudica, from the central Pacific mountain region, is compared with P. phyllocardia, but it is easily recognized by the densely pubescent- hirsute flowers. Pleurothallis luna-crescens,...

The New Refugium Botanicum is a series based on W. Saunder's The Refugium Botanicum (1809–1879) that intend to present interesting plants of botanical merit to the readers, which are studied and illustrated from living specimens by the best specialists, and accompanied by concise cultural notes.

Abstract. The Swiss botanist Adolphe Tonduz worked in Costa Rica from 1889 to 1920. For 20 years he carried out important activities as a plant collector and the curator of the largest Costa Rican herbarium beginning at the Instituto Físico-Geográfico Nacional, and later at the National Museum. A large number of new species of Orchidaceae are found...

The phylogenetic relationships within the Acianthera affinity are re-evaluated using Bayesian analyses of nrITS and chloro- plast matK sequence data. Emphasis is made on species from the Antilles, Central America and the Andean South America as those have been less represented in previous studies. Acianthera is retrieved largely monophyletic, but i...

The Swiss botanist Adolphe Tonduz worked in Costa Rica from 1889 to 1920. For 20 years he carried out important activities as a plant collector and the curator of the largest Costa Rican herbarium beginning at the Instituto Físico-Geográfico Nacional, and later at the National Museum. A large number of new species of Orchidaceae are found among his...

The recent transfer to the genus Xylobium of three orchid species originally described by Ruiz and Pavón as members of Maxillaria is challenged on the basis of the extant evidence found in the herbarium and the archives of the Royal Botanic Garden, Madrid, where the first set of materials intended for the Flora Peruviana et Chilensis is deposited....

Sobralia turrialbina is described and illustrated from Costa Rica. The new species is compared with the morphologically similar S. chrysostoma, from which can be distinguished by the leaves restricted to the terminal third of the stem, the floral bracts twice longer, the flowers dusty pink or pale rose, and the lip with no keels, provided with a ha...

The phylogenetic relationships within Specklinia (Pleurothallidinae; Orchidaceae) and related genera are re-evaluated using Bayesian analyses of nrITS and chloroplast matK sequence data of a wide sampling of species. Specklinia is found paraphyletic in the DNA based trees, with species alternatively assigned to Muscarella proven distinct, monophyle...

Taxonomic work has been historically regarded as a two-fold discipline. The first, which is basically aimed at answering the question about the diversity in whatever group under study, includes most of the "biological" questions of the research. Understanding of genetic and morphological variation, structure of populations and life cycles, biogeogr...

div class="page" title="Page 1"> Se confirma la presencia en Costa Rica de la orquídea Macradenia brassavolae Rchb.f. con base en dos recolectas de la vertiente Caribe del país. Se presenta una descripción y una ilus- tracón de la especie. </div

div class="page" title="Page 1"> Se presenta una revisión del complejo de Prosthechea prismatocarpa (Orchidaceae: Laeliinae) en Costa Rica, con una clave de las especies y su taxonomía actualizada. Se describe una nueva especie, P. tardiflora Mora-Retana ex Pupulin. Dentro del complejo, la nueva especie se puede reconocer por el rizoma corto, la i...

Sixteen orchid species are first reported for the area of Quepos in addition to those recorded for Manuel Antonio National Park, Costa Rica. Generic descriptions are provided for the genera not previously recorded for the area, and each species is described and illustrated. Data on distribution and phenology are provided, together with keys to the...

div class="page" title="Page 1"> Extensive radiation in oncidioid orchids (subtribe Oncidiinae) has resulted in over 1,700 species in tropical America in some 70 genera. They exhibit a wide range of habitats, occurring terrestrially or, more commonly, epiphytically and can be found from sea level to the Andean paramós and from deserts to rainfores...

div class="page" title="Page 1"> Se describe e ilustra el híbrido natural Oerstedella x monteverdensis ( O. endresii x O. exasperata ) del área de Monteverde, Cordillera de Tilarán, y de la vertiente septentrional de la Cordillera de Tilarán, Costa Rica. Las flores presentan características intermedias entre los parientes putativos. Sépalos y péta...

div class="page" title="Page 1"> l gran botánico norteamericano Paul C. Standley visitó nuestro país en dos ocasiones, en los veranos de 1923-24 y 1925-26, durante las cuales realizó el trabajo preliminar que conduciría, en 1937, a la publicación de su Flora of Costa Rica , primera flora de nuestro país en el siglo XX, si exceptuamos el trabajo in...

div class="page" title="Page 1"> Botanical collections in developed countries are not always restricted to their native plants. Many herbaria in those countries also host large collections from tropical and subtropical floras as the result of floristic projects carried out by leading European and North American botanical institutions in the past t...

A new nothospecies in the subtribe Zygopetalinae (Orchidaceae), × Cochlezella costaricensis, representing a cross between Cochleanthes aromatica and Warczewiczella discolor, is described and illustrated from Costa Rica, and its relationships are discussed.

Historically, the isthmus of Costa Rica and Panama has been a source of fascination for its strategic position linking North America to South America. In terms of biodiversity, the isthmus is considered one of the richest regions in the world. Orchidaceae is the most diverse plant family in the area, and the number of species is triple that of othe...

Se describe e ilustrra una nueva especie de Encyclia, endémica de la meseta de Cajálbana en Cuba. Encyclia cajalbanensis es parecida a E. fucata, de la cual se diferencia por el mayor tamaño de las plantas y por el labelo mucho más grande, con el lóbulo medio reniforme, suborbicular.

Specklinia dunstervillei is described as a new species in recognition of the distinctness of a Venezuelan species related to and confused with Specklinia endotrachys. It was illustrated for the first time by G. C. K. Dunsterville in 1963 from a plant collected in Trujillo on the Cordil-lera de Merida. The newly named species can be easily recognize...

The present paper focuses on the systematics of the Specklinia glandulosa species complex. Traditionally, S. glandulosa has been considered a widely distributed and variable species, ranging from Mexico to the guiana Shield. Here it is treated as one of at least six different, albeit closely related, species. of these species, S. pertenuis and S. v...

t may seem somehow out of line to present a new system of botanical databases in the context of a meeting on orchid conservation, for two main rea- sons. Even though botanists have been rather slow in upgrading to the use of electronic databases (with some early controversy regarding the desirability of the application of electronic data processing...

Background and aims: The first documented observation of pollination in Pleurothallidinae was that of Endrés, who noticed that the 'viscid sepals' of Specklinia endotrachys were visited by a 'small fly'. Chase would later identify the visiting flies as being members of the genus Drosophila. This study documents and describes how species of the S....

Abstract— A new species, Reichantha jorge-warneri , from the Atlantic plains of Nicaragua and Costa Rica is described and illustrated. The species is similar to Reichantha tonduzii, but can be distinguished by its reddish inflorescence and ovary, glabrous sepals that are stained with red at the base and are distinctly shorter, lateral sepals with...

The queen of orchids, Cattleya dowiana, or the “Guaria de Turrialba,” as it is best known in its native costa rica, has long been regarded as one of the most beautiful of all the Cattleya species, and many authors have even called it “the world’s most beautiful flower.” The paper describes a new form of this species, Cattleya dowiana subs. dowiana...

The Orchidaceae is one of the most diverse vascular plant families in the Neotropics and the most diverse in Panama. The number of species is triple that of other well-represented families of angiosperms such as Rubiaceae, Fabaceae and Poaceae. Despite its importance in terms of diversity, the latest checklist was published ten years ago and the la...

Orchidaceae es una de las familias de plantas vasculares más diversas del Neotrópico y la más diversa en Panamá. Su número de especies triplica a las otras familias más diversas de angiospermas como Rubiaceae, Fabaceae y Poaceae. A pesar de su importancia en términos de diversidad, el último listado de especies se publicó hace 10 años y los últimos...

We revise and characterize the group of species close to Lepanthes guatemalensis. The group comprises eight species in Costa Rica. Three new species are described and illustrated. Lepanthes durikäensis is distinguished by the non resupinate flowers, the lateral sepals ovate with the apical tails diverging, the lower lobe of petals lanceolate-subfal...

wo new species of Lepanthes are described and illustrated. Lepanthes elvirae is reminiscent of L. estrellensis in the large size of the flower and the broad and rounded laminae of the lip, but can be distinguished from the latter by the glabrous sheaths of the ramicaul, the petals with lobes distinctly different in size and the lobes of the lip hel...

A Journey into the life and work of the greatest orchidologist to ever visit Costa Rica.

Botanical illustration and orchid taxonomy in the expedition to Peru by Ruiz and Pavón

To THE SOUTHEAST of Cartago and Paraiso, in Costa Rica, there is a rather primitive road through Gwibata to Cach!o It is better to go up the road through Gwibata, as it is much less frightening than the road from Cachi to Alto de Araya. Near the highest point of the road (Alto de Araya) there is a small lake that is said to be quite deep, and there...

Two new species of Sobralia from Costa Rica are described and illustrated, and their affinities are discussed. Sobralia danjanzenii is compared to S. virginalis, from which it is mainly distinct by the simple stems and the unscented flowers, with the lip blotched with yellow only within the throat. Sobralia zebrina is similar to S. macrophylla, but...

Abstract: In the last decade orchid systematics has focused especially on assessing evolutionary relationships among species and species groups, in an attempt to produce a solid phylogenetic framework for the family. While in general this effort has been amply successful, the results of phylogenetic analyses applied to the nomenclature of some grou...

Stelis, one of the largest genera within Pleuro- thallidinae, was recently recircumscribed to include a few hundred more species, most of which had previously been assigned to Pleurothallis. Here, a new phylogenetic anal- ysis of Stelis and closely related genera based on DNA sequences from nuclear ITS and chloroplast matK, based on a much larger s...

In the last decade orchid systematics has focused especially on assessing evolutionary relationships among species and species groups, in an attempt to produce a solid phylogenet ic framework for the family. While in general this effort has been amply successful, the results of phylogenetic analyses applied to the nomenclature of some groups are st...

The great majority of plant species in the tropics require animals to achieve pollination, but the exact role of floral signals in attraction of animal pollinators is often debated. Many plants provide a floral reward to attract a guild of pollinators, and it has been proposed that floral signals of non-rewarding species may converge on those of re...

. The genesis and early establishment of the EPIDENDRA project are reviewed, retracing the scientific, ethical and political reasons that defined its actual shape and contents. The taxonomic structure of the global orchid network, its systematic framework and nomenclatural implications are discussed. The actual figures of the database are presented...

Lepanthes variabilis, a new species from Costa Rica, is described and illustrated. It is endemic to the northern part of the Talamanca mountain range, from 2750–2850 m. It is compared to the similar L. minutilabia, which also occurs in Costa Rica.

According to the definition provided by Botanical Gardens Conservation International, "the main goal of botanical illustration is not art, but scientific accuracy". A botanical illustrator must portray a plant with enough precision and detail for it to be recognized and distinguished from another species, and the need for exactness is what fundamen...

The short career of Auguste R. Endrés as a botanical explorer, author and illustrator, is concentrated in just the few years that he spent in Costa Rica between the end of 1866 and the first months of 1874, with a brief parenthesis in Panama. In these seven years Endrés botanized throughout the country, devoting his main attention to the still unre...