Plant similar to Liparis veacilltfera, but bifoliate. 
Leaves subequal, large, broadly elliptic, acuminate, very 
membranaceous, 9-11 cm. long, 5-7 cm. wide. Inflores¬ 
cence a loose raceme. Floral bracts 5-7 mm. long, much 
shorter than the ovary. Sepals similar. Dorsal sepal 10 
mm. long and 2 mm. wide. Lateral sepals 12 mm. long, 
2 mm. wide. Petals linear, 10 mm. long, shorter than 
the lateral sepals. Labellum more or less acute, 14 mm. 
long, 8 mm. wide. 
Whereas Liparis veocillifera appears always to have 
a single more or less coriaceous leaf, the variety is strik¬ 
ingly different in having two large, extremely membra¬ 
naceous and much broader leaves. The leaves of the 
variety are always of slightly different size. Liparis veocil¬ 
lifera occurs commonly, but not exclusively, in somewhat 
dry open habitats, while L. veocillifera var. arnoglosso- 
phylla inhabits the rich, damp floor of cool dark rain¬ 
forests at high altitudes. The difference in number, tex¬ 
ture and size of leaves of the two plants may be correlated 
with the usual habitat differences. 
Florally, there are minor differences shown by the 
variety. The inflorescence appears to be more loosely 
racemose, while the relative size of the sepals and petals 
is slightly different. The lip is acute. 
In Liparis veocillifera var. arnoglossophylla the lip is 
more or less translucent, of a pale green color. The se¬ 
pals and petals are predominantly of the same color, but 
become a bluish-black toward the centre of the flower. 
The column is bright orange. 
Mexico: “New Spain,” Herb. Pavon (Type); terrestrial, on rich 
damp floor of a cool dark rain-forest, slopes of Cerro del Fraile, Huaut- 
la de Jimenez, Oaxaca, at about 7500 feet altitude, August 8, 1988, 
Richard Evans Schultes and Bias Pablo Reko 894 (in Herb. Ames No. 
55479). 
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