A taxonomic revision of genus Phloeophila (Orchidaceae, Pleurothallidinae) in Ecuador

Carlos James Naranjo,Leisberth Alexis Vélez-Abarca,Luis Enrique Baquero,Marco Marcelo Jiménez

doi:10.35535/pfsyst-2021-0002

Abstract

The orchid genus Phloeophila is distributed from southern Mexico to Brazil and Bolivia, as well as Cuba. A taxonomic revision including the three Phloeophila species present in Ecuador is presented. Morphological characteristics, an identification key, maps of known localities and illustrations of the species are also included. In Ecuador, species of Phloeophila are only known from the Amazonian rainforests, growing from 890 to 1600 meters of altitude. Phloeophila condorana is described as a new species based on specimens collected in the Ecuadorian province of Zamora-Chinchipe and compared to Phloeophila nummularia. Phloeophila nummularia is reported for the first time in Peru. A lectotype for Pleurothallis echinantha is selected.

Highlights

The subtribe Pleurothallidinae with more than 5000 species is considered the most diverse in species of all orchids and is currently divided in nine major clades (Karremans 2016)
Phloeophila is a small genus of the Pleurothallidinae with three species distributed throughout Tropical America from Mexico, Central America, the Antilles, to Bolivia and Brazil (Karremans & Vieira-Uribe 2020)
The first Phloeophila collections were made in the late 19th century by Charles Wright (1859, Cuba) (Fig. 1), Joao Barbosa Rodrigues (Brazil) and Friedrich Lehmann (Colombia)

Summary

Introduction

The subtribe Pleurothallidinae with more than 5000 species is considered the most diverse in species of all orchids and is currently divided in nine major clades (Karremans 2016). Phloeophila is a small genus of the Pleurothallidinae with three species distributed throughout Tropical America from Mexico, Central America, the Antilles, to Bolivia and Brazil (Karremans & Vieira-Uribe 2020). The first Phloeophila collections were made in the late 19th century by Charles Wright (1859, Cuba) (Fig. 1), Joao Barbosa Rodrigues (Brazil) and Friedrich Lehmann (Colombia). In 1865, Reichenbach described the first species attributable to Phloeophila as Pleurothallis nummularia based on material collected by Wright. In 1926, Hoehne and Schlechter established the genus with two species: P. echinantha and P. paulensis, designating the latter as the type species (Luer 2006)

Grupo Científico Calaway Dodson

Materials and methods