Pleurothallis rubella Luer 1977 SUBGENUS Rubella Luer 1986 TYPE for the SUBGENUS
Photos by © Christian
Photo by © Arturo Carillo
Photo by © Weil Driessen
Common Name The Little Reddish Pleurothallis
Flower Size .15" [3mm]
Found in Panama and Colombia at elevations of 1100 to 1400 meters as a miniature sized, cool growing epiphyte with erect ramicauls enveloped basally by 2 to 3 tubular sheaths and carrying a single apical, erect, coriaceous, elliptic, obtuse, gradually narrowing below into the elongate, petiolate base leaf that blooms in the fall on an erect, 2 1/4" [5.6 cm] long, single flowered inflorescence.
There is a red [Panama] and yellow [Colombia] form of the flowers, the photo above of course is the yellow one.
This species is the only representative of the Subgenus Rubella and is there because of the ciliate lip with a large rounded, concave, pubescent callus at the base and has a short, terete column with an exposed apical anther and stigma as in Subgenus Pleurothallis but it has the plant morphology of a plant in Subgenus Specklinia.
Synonyms Platystele aurea Garay 1973; Rubellia rubella (Luer) Luer 2004
References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; Icones Pleurothallidinarum Systematics of Pleurothallis Vol 3 Luer 1986 drawing fide; Icones Pleurothallidinarum Vol XXVI Luer 2004 as Rubellia rubella; Icones Pleurothallidinarum Vol XXVIII Luer 2006 as Rubella rublella
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