Pleurothallis vittariifolia Schltr. 1923 SUBGENUS Specklinia SECTION Hymenodanthae SUBSECTION Apodae-Caespitosae [Lindl.] Luer 1986

Comparison Photo of related species

Photos by © Adam Karremans

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Common Name or Meaning The Vittaria-Like Leaf Pleurothallis [Leaves like a Vittaria -tape fern]

Flower Size .12" [3 mm]

Found in Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama at elevations of 400 to 1400 metrers as a hot to cool growiong epiphyte with a short, terete stem enveloped completely by papyraceous, subancipitous, acu8te sheaths ad carrying a narrowly linear, minutely and irregularly emarginate apically, mid vein protrudung abaxially, into a small apiculae, gradually tapering towards the base into a deeply conduplicate, petiolate base leaf that blooms in the late spring, summer and fall on a laterally from the base of the leaf, without an annulus, peduncle terete, to 1.2" long, with a single distant, glandular, terete bract, rachis .4 to .6" [1 to 1.5 cm] long, successively single to 4 flowered inflorescence with infundibuliform, glandular, broadly ovate, acute to subacuminate, as long as to slightly longer than the ovary floral bracts.

"In Costa Rica, P alajuelensis and P vittariifolia have been confused with each other in herbaria. The first can be easily recognized from the second by the leaves that are less than 10 times as long as wide (while the second have extremely narrow leaves that can be more than 15 times longer than wide). The inflorescence of P. alajuelensis produces a lax inflorescence of an extremely slow succession, and always becomes longer than the leaf. The inflorescence of P. vittariifolia does not exceed the leaf length even though it can also produce several flowers over time; the flowers are born closely together making the inflorescence sub-fascicled." Karremans & Pupulin 2015

This species is part of the Pleurothallis glandulosa Group, made up of P alajuelensis P chontalensis and P gersonii

Synonyms Specklinia vittariifolia (Schltr.) Pridgeon & M.W.Chase 2001

References W3 Tropicos, Kew Monocot list , IPNI ; Phytotaxa Vol 218 (2) Karremans and Pupulin 2015 as Specklinia vittariifolia drawing/photo fide; Pleurothallids Neotropical Jewels Vol 1 Karremans & Viera 2020 as Specklinia vittariifolia photo fide

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