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LANKESTERIANA 12(2): 107—114. 2012.
THrEE NEW LEPANTHES (orCHIDACEAE: PlEUroTHAllIDINAE)
FroM soUTH-EAsT CosTA rICA
DieGo boGArín1,2,5, ADAm P. KArremAnS1,3 & FrAnco PuPulin1,4
1 Jardín Botánico Lankester, Universidad de Costa Rica, P. O. Box 302-7050 Cartago, Costa Rica.
2 Herbario UCH, Universidad Autónoma de Chiriquí, P.O. Box 0427, Chiriquí, Panamá.
3 NCB Naturalis - NHN Universiteit Leiden, The Netherlands.
4 Harvard University Herbaria, 22 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.A.; Marie Selby
Botanical gardens, Sarasota, FL, U.S.A.
5 Corresponding author: diego.bogarin@ucr.ac.cr
AbStrAct. Three new species of Lepanthes from south-east Costa Rica are described and illustrated.
Lepanthes erubescens resembles L. limbellata, from which it can be distinguished by the pendent plants, with
inorescences that borne above the leaf, the upper petal lobe ovate, acute, 1,3 mm wide, larger than the lower
lobe, and the ovate lip. Lepanthes sandiorum resembles L. dolabriformis, however it can be distinguished by
the smaller plants, the smaller owers, the narrower petals, which are liform, with the upper lobe oblong,
rounded, entire and glabrous. Lepanthes sanjuanensis is similar to L. elegans, but it is distinguished by the
green-purple, un-reticulated leaves, the petals with the upper lobe oblong, rounded, with the margins red, the
lower lobe oblong, rounded, divergent at apex, and the pinkish or orange-red lip. Additional comments on
the species are provided.
Key worDS: Orchidaceae, Pleurothallidinae, Lepanthes erubescens, Lepanthes sandiorum, Lepanthes
sanjuanensis, new species, taxonomy
Lepanthes comprises about 120 species in Costa
Rica. The taxonomic history of the genus in the counry
began with the arrival of the explorers A. Oersted
and H. Wendland in the second half of the nineteenth
century. They collected Lepanthes between 1855 and
1857, mostly at El Desengaño and Cartago, along the
mountains of the Valle Central. H.G Reichenbach f.
described 8 new species from among their collections
(Reichenbach 1866). From that same year and up
to 1874, botanist Auguste R. Endrés thoroughly
explored Costa Rica, documenting almost half of the
known species of Lepanthes now reported from the
country. Endrés gathered more than 250 specimens,
corresponding to 63 species and prepared 201
illustrations (Pupulin et al. 2011). Unfortunately his
work was never published and at least 55 species of
Lepanthes remained undescribed until Luer (1995)
studied his material kept at W.
Between 1912 and 1923, R. Schlechter published
18 species based on material collected in Costa
Rica. The material was gathered mostly by G.
Acosta, the brothers A. and C. Brade, A. Brenes, H.
Pittier, A. Tonduz and C. Wercklé (Schlechter 1923).
Contemporarily, O. Ames, who received material
from C. Lankester, also added about 22 species to the
genus (Ames 1923). After the pasing of O. Ames and
R. Schlechter, the description of new orchid species
in Costa Rica declined considerably. No Lepanthes
species were described during the next 53 years.
Luer (1983) began to describe new Lepanthes
species based on his own eld work activities since
1981, but mainly from studying Endrés’ material that
remained forgotten for over a century. Indeed, even
with the contributions of Reichenbach, Schlechter and
Ames, the diversity of Lepanthes was far from being
understood. Luer (1996) added 70 species (almost
doubling the number of species known to date) to the
ora of Costa Rica. About 21 of them were based on
the collections by Endrés (Luer 1995).
After Luer (1995, 1996), and with the turn of
the century, research at Lankester Botanical Garden
(JBL) has revealed some 22 new species of Lepanthes.
Those studies mostly covered areas not visited by the
traditional collectors mentioned previously (Pupulin
et al. 2010). The area that comprises the Southern
Pacic watershed of the Talamanca mountain range,
from the foothills of Cerro de la Muerte and Chirripó,
neighboring the Valle de El General, Fila Costeña
and up to the border with Panama, in the Costa Rican
south-east, is very rich in Lepanthes species.
Here we propose three new species from this
region of Costa Rica:
Lepanthes erubescens Bogarín, Pupulin & Karremans,
sp. nov.
tyPe: Costa Rica. San José: Pérez Zeledón, Santa
Elena de El General, Quebrada Los Granados, 710 m,
collected by Vicente Juárez-Pérez, 17 March 2002,
owered in cultivation at Jardín Botánico Lankester,
29 June 2002, F. Pupulin 4027 (holotype, JBL). FiG.
1, 4A.
A Lepanthes limbellata Endrés ex Luer similis,
sed planta pendula, inorescentiis folii portatis
adaxialibus, lobo superno petalorum ovato acuto
latiore lobum inferum superantibus et lobulis labelli
ovatis.
Plant epiphytic, caespitose, pendent, up to 15 cm
tall. Roots slender, exuous, to 0.5 mm in diameter.
Ramicauls slender, pendent, 4.5-12 cm long, enclosed
by 8 minutely ciliate, lepanthiform blackish sheaths,
the ostia minutely ciliate, ovate, acute, adpressed.
Leaves coriaceous, elliptic to ovate or suborbicular,
acute to subacuminate, emarginate, with a short
apiculus, purplish-green, 2.5–4.0 × 1.5–2.6 cm, the
rounded base narrowing into a petiole less than 3 mm
long. Inorescence racemose, distichous, glabrous,
successively owered, born above the leaf, shorter
than the leaves, up to 2.7 cm long, peduncle 1.9
cm long, rachis 0.8 cm long. Floral bracts ovate,
acuminate, conduplicate, membranaceous, 1 mm
long, muriculate. Pedicels 2 mm long, persistent.
Ovary to 2 mm long, glabrous. Flowers with
yellowish-orange sepals, the petals scarlet red, the
upper lobe with a yellow stain, the lip reddish-pink,
the column scarlet. Dorsal sepal ovate, acute, entire,
dorsally with three keels, connate to the lateral sepals
for about 0.6 mm, 3.6 × 2.2 mm. Lateral sepals
narrowly ovate to elliptic, acute, entire, dorsally
with three ciliate keels, connate for 0.8 mm, 3.6 ×
1.8 mm. Petals transversely bilobed, entire, 5.0 ×
1.3 mm, the upper lobe ovate, acute, the lower lobe
ovate, narrowly triangular, narrower and shorter than
the upper lobe. Lip bilobate, adnate to the column,
the blades ovate with rounded ends, embracing the
column 1.3 × 1.7 cm, the connectives terete, oblong,
to 0.3 mm long, the body thick, oblong, rounded,
connate to the base of the column, the appendix thick,
oblong, pubescent, cylindric. Column cylindric, to 2
mm long, mucronate, the anther apical and the stigma
ventral. Pollinia two, ovoid. Anther cap, triangular,
cucullate.
PArAtyPeS: Costa Rica. Puntarenas: Buenos Aires,
Volcán, 09°13’N, 83°26’W, ca. 450 m, bosque muy
húmedo premontano transición a basal en bosque
secundario muy alterado a orillas de un riachuelo,
17 abril 2012, A.P. Karremans 5312, J. Cambronero
& J. Gemmel (JBL-Spirit!) Same locality and date,
A.P. Karremans 5314 (JBL-Spirit!). San José: Pérez
Zeledón, El Alto de San Juan, ca. 1300 m, collected by
Jeremy Quesada Gonzalez, owered in cultivation in
the collection of Daniel Jiménez at Paraíso de Cartago,
12 Julio 2012, J. Quesada s.n. (JBL-Spirit!).
DiStribution: known from south-east Costa Rica,
on the Pacic watershed of the Talamanca mountain
range.
hAbitAt AnD ecoloGy: epiphytic in secondary forest
in premontane wet forest, basal belt transition,
premontane wet forest and premontane moist forest, at
450-1150 m of elevation.
ePonymy: from the Latin erubescens “reddening,
blushing” in reference to the scarlet red color of the
petals.
Lepanthes erubescens resembles L. limbellata
Endrés ex Luer. However, it can be distinguished
mainly by the the pendent plants (vs. erect), with
inorescences that is borne above the leaf (vs. behind),
the upper lobe ovate, acute, 1.3 mm wide, larger than
the lower lobe (vs. narrowly ovate-triangular, narrowly
obtuse, 0.6 mm wide, equal in length to the lower lobe)
and the ovate lip blades (vs. narrowly oblong).
Lepanthes sandiorum Bogarín & Karremans, sp. nov.
tyPe: Costa Rica. Puntarenas: Coto Brus, Sabalito,
LANKESTERIANA 12(2), August 2012. © Universidad de Costa Rica, 2012.
108 LANKESTERIANA
LANKESTERIANA 12(2), August 2012. © Universidad de Costa Rica, 2012.
boGArín et al. — Three new Lepanthes 109
Figure 1. Lepanthes erubescens Bogarín, Pupulin & Karremans. A — Habit. B — Ramicaul. C — Flower. D — Perianth
FlAtten. E — Apex of petal. F — Lip, front view with the column and spread without the column. G— Lip and column,
lateral view. Drawn by D. Bogarín and F. Pupulin from the holotype.
LANKESTERIANA
Zona Protectora Las Tablas, 13 km al noreste de Lucha,
Sitio Coto Brus, entre Río Surá y Quebrada Sutú, Finca
de Miguel Sandí, 8°56’46.1” N 82°44’30.9” W, 1778
m, bosque pluvial montano bajo, epítas en potreros
arbolados, 6 junio 2010, D. Bogarín 7773 & A.P.
Karremans (holotype, JBL-Spirit!). FiG. 2, 4B.
Species Lepanthi dolabriformi Luer similis,
distincta habito perparvo, oribus in diametro
brevioribus, petalis angustis liformis et lobo superno
petalorum oblongo, rotundato, glabro.
Plant epiphytic, caespitose, suberect, up to 5.5 cm
tall. Roots slender, exuous, to 0.5 mm in diameter.
Ramicauls slender, erect, 2.3–3.5 cm long, enclosed
by 7 glabrous, lepanthiform sheaths, the ostia minutely
ciliate, ovate, acute, adpressed. Leaves coriaceous,
elliptic to ovate or suborbicular, obtuse, emarginate,
with a short apiculus, purplish beneath, 1.3–1.7 × 0.6–
1.4 cm, the rounded base narrowing into a petiole less
than 1 mm long. Inorescence racemose, distichous,
glabrous, successively owered, born above the leaf,
exceeding the leaves, up to 3 cm long, peduncle 1.5
cm long, rachis 1.5 cm long. Floral bracts ovate,
acuminate, conduplicate, membranaceous, 1 mm
long, muriculate. Pedicels 2 mm long, persistent.
Ovary to 1 mm long, glabrous. Flowers with orange
sepals, the petals scarlet red with the margin yellow,
the lip scarlet with the apex yellow, the column
red. Dorsal sepal ovate, acute, denticulate, slightly
reexed, dorsally with three keels, connate to the
lateral sepals for about 0.4 mm, 2.6 × 1.4 mm. Lateral
sepals narrowly ovate, acute, denticulate, dorsally
with three ciliate keels, connate for 0,4 mm, 2.6 × 1.3
mm. Petals transversely bilobed, entire, glabrous, 0.4
× 2.3 mm, the upper lobe oblong, liform, 1.7 mm
long, rounded, the lower lobe smaller than the upper
lobe, to 0.6 mm long, ovate, obtuse. Lip bilobate,
adnate to the column, the blades oblong with rounded
ciliolate ends, embracing the column 1.5 × 1.2 cm,
the connectives terete, oblong, to 0.4 mm long, the
body thick, oblong, rounded, connate to the base of
the column, the appendix thick, oblong, cylindric.
Column cylindric, to 2 mm long, mucronate, the
anther dorsal and the stigma apical. Pollinia two,
ovoid, basally liform. Anther cap, oblong, cucullate.
PArAtyPeS: Costa Rica. Puntarenas: Coto Brus, Sabalito,
Zona Protectora Las Tablas, 13 km al noreste de Lucha,
Sitio Coto Brus, entre Río Surá y Quebrada Sutú, Finca
de Miguel Sandí, 8°56’46.1” N 82°44’30.9” W, 1778
m, bosque pluvial montano bajo, epítas en potreros
arbolados, 20 abril 2012, A.P. Karremans 5350 & J.
Gemmel (JBL-Spirit!). Same locality and date, A.P.
Karremans 5381 & J. Gemmel (CR!). Coto Brus,
Sabalito, Zona Protectora Las Tablas, 13 km al noreste
de Lucha, Sitio Coto Brus, entre Río Surá y Quebrada
Sutú, Finca de Miguel Sandí, 8°56’46.1” N 82°44’30.9”
W, 1778 m, bosque pluvial montano bajo, epítas en
potreros arbolados, 6 junio 2010, D. Bogarín 7786
(JBL-Spirit!). Coto Brus, Sabalito, Zona Protectora Las
Tablas, 13 km NE of Lucha, Sitio Coto Brus, nca Sandí
“El Capricho”, 8°56’46.1” N 82°44’30.9” W, 1778 m,
epiphytic, mostly on Quercus sp. in pastures and along
the river Sutú, wet premontane forest, 6 October 2010,
F. Pupulin et al. 7929 (JBL -Spirit!). Same locality and
date, F. Pupulin et al. 7930 (JBL -Spirit!). Same locality
and date, F. Pupulin et al. 7934 (JBL -Spirit!).Same
locality and date, F. Pupulin et al. 7951 (JBL -Spirit!).
DiStribution: Endemic to Costa Rica, however, most
probably found also in Panama, as the large populations
were found growing very close to the border. It is
known only from the south-east Costa Rica, on the
southernmost portion of the Pacic watershed of the
Talamanca mountain range.
hAbitAt AnD ecoloGy: plants were found growing
epiphytically in disturbed lower montane rain forest, at
around 1800 m elevation.
ePonymy: dedicated to Miguel Sandí and his family,
pioneers in the region of Las Tablas and owners of the
farm where this species was found.
Lepanthes sandiorum resembles L. dolabriformis
Luer, however it can be distinguished mainly by the
smaller plants, less than 5.5 cm tall (vs. up to 7.5 cm),
the smaller owers with sepals 2.6 × 1.4 mm (vs. 4.0
× 2.5 mm), the narrower petals, which are liform,
2.3 mm (vs. 3.5–3.75 mm) with the upper lobe
oblong, rounded, entire, glabrous (vs. obtusely angled
with a hatchet-shaped appearance, minutely ciliate,
pubescent). Both species are related to L. blepharistes
Rchb.f. but they can be easily distinguished by the
petals with the lower lobe smaller than the upper lobe
(vs. equal in length).
110
LANKESTERIANA 12(2), August 2012. © Universidad de Costa Rica, 2012.
LANKESTERIANA 12(2), August 2012. © Universidad de Costa Rica, 2012.
boGArín et al. — Three new Lepanthes 111
FiGure 2. Lepanthes sandiorum Bogarín & Karremans. A — Habit. B — Flower. C — Perianth atten. D — Lip, spread.
E — Column and lip, lateral view. Drawn by D. Bogarín from the holotype.
LANKESTERIANA 12(2), August 2012. © Universidad de Costa Rica, 2012.
112 LANKESTERIANA
FiGure 3. Lepanthes sanjuanensis Bogarín & Karremans. A — Habit. B — Flower. C — Perianth atten. D — Lip, spread.
E — Column and lip, lateral view. F — Pollinarium and anther cap. Drawn by D. Bogarín from the holotype.
LANKESTERIANA 12(2), August 2012. © Universidad de Costa Rica, 2012.
boGArín et al. — Three new Lepanthes 113
Lepanthes sanjuanensis Bogarín & Karremans, sp.
nov.
tyPe: Costa Rica. San José: Pérez Zeledón, San Isidro
de El General, carretera a Dominical, desvío hacia
el Alto de San Juan, 2 km al noroeste de la antena,
9°20’36.8”N 83°46’07.8”W, 1187 m, bosque húmedo
premontano, sobre árboles en bosque secundario y
primario, 3 setiembre 2011, D. Bogarín 9234 & A.P.
Karremans (holotype, JBL!; isotype, CR!). FiG. 3, 4C.
Species habitu cum L. elegans Luer optime
congruens, sed foliis purpureis-viridis non reticulatis,
lobulis supernis petalorum oblongis, rotundatis,
marginibus petalorum rubris, lobulis inferis oblongis,
rotundatis, in apice divergentibus et labello rubro-
aurantiaco differt.
Plant epiphytic, caespitose, pendent or suberect,
up to 30 cm tall. Roots slender, exuous, to 1 mm in
diameter. Ramicauls slender, suberect, 5–19 cm long,
enclosed by 7–12 minutely ciliate, blackish, tightly
adpressed lepanthiform sheaths, the ostia minutely
ciliate, ovate, acute, not dilated. Leaves coriaceous,
ovate to elliptic, acute to acuminate, emarginate with
a short apiculus, conduplicate, adaxially purplish,
abaxially purplish-green, not reticulate, 6.0–7.5 × 3.0–
3.4 cm, the rounded base narrowing into a petiole less
than 3 mm long. Inorescence racemose, distichous,
glabrous, successively owered, born beneath the leaf,
shorter than the leaves, up to 4 cm long, peduncle 2–2.5
cm long, rachis 1.0–1.5 cm long. Floral bracts ovate,
acuminate, conduplicate, membranaceous, 1 mm long,
muriculate. Pedicels 5 mm long, persistent. Ovary
to 2 mm long, glabrous. Flowers with yellow sepals,
stained, the petals yellow stained with red along the
margin of the upper lobe, the lip pinkish, the column
purple-pink basally, yellow apically. Dorsal sepal
ovate, acute, entire, dorsally with three keels, connate
to the lateral sepals for about 1 mm, 1.9 × 3.7 mm.
Lateral sepals narrowly ovate to elliptic, acute, entire,
dorsally with three ciliate keels, connate for 1 mm,
3.2 × 1.2 mm. Petals transversely bilobed, 1.1 × 3.5
mm, the upper lobe oblong, rounded, entire, the lower
lobe oblong, rounded, ciliate. Lip bilobate, adnate to
the column, the blades oblong, ciliolate with rounded
ends, the apex of each lobe provided with conspicuous
bristles, 0.8 × 1.2 cm, the connectives terete, oblong, to
5 mm long, the body thick, oblong, rounded, connate
to the base of the column, the appendix pubescent,
inconspicuous. Column cylindric, to 1.5 mm long,
mucronate, the anther dorsal and the stigma ventral.
Pollinia two, pyriform. Anther cap, oblong, cucullate.
DiStribution: only known from south-east Costa Rica,
on the Pacic watershed of the Talamanca mountain
range.
FiGure 4. Flowers of the new species of Lepanthes. A— L. erubescens (F. Pupulin 4027). B — L. sandiorum (F. Pupulin
7929). C — L. sanjuanensis (D. Bogarín 7773). Photographs by F. Pupulin (A, B) and D. Bogarín (C).
LANKESTERIANA 12(2), August 2012. © Universidad de Costa Rica, 2012.
114 LANKESTERIANA
hAbitAt AnD ecoloGy: a population was found
epiphytically in premontane moist forest in secondary
vegetation, at around 1000-1200 m of elevation.
etymoloGy: named after the type locality of Alto de
San Juan, along the road from San Isidro de El General
to Dominical.
Lepanthes sanjuanensis is similar to L. elegans
Luer. Both are characterized by the relatively large
to the plant habit, produced below the leaf, and the lip is
minute with conspicuous long-ciliate apexes. However,
L. sanjuanensis is mainly distinguished by the green-
purple, not reticulated leaves (vs. reticulated), the
petals with the upper lobe oblong, rounded, with the
margins red (vs. obliquely ovate, with a red blotch at
the middle of the upper lobe), the lower lobe oblong,
rounded, divergent at apex (vs. obliquely triangular,
acute, converging) and the pinkish or orange-red lip
(vs. yellow).
AcKnowleDGementS. We are thankful to the Ministerio
del Ambiente, Energía y Telecomunicaciones de Costa Rica
(MINAET) and Sistema Nacional de Áreas de Conservación
(SINAC) of Costa Rica for issuing the Scientic Passport
N. 1862 under which wild specimens treated in this study
were collected. To Daniel Jiménez for sharing material and
knowledge of the species described. This paper is part of
the project “Flora Costaricensis: Taxonomía y logenia
de la subtribu Pleurothallidinae (Orchidaceae) en Costa
Rica”, 814-BO-052, sponsored by the Vice-Presidency of
Research, University of Costa Rica.
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