PLEUROTHALLIS REPENS 



Pleurothallis (§Apod£e prorepentes) repens Ames Orchida- 

 CE^, Fasc. II. p. 271 (1908). — P. hiajis Ames ex J. D. Smith 

 Enum. PL Guatemal. pt. viii (Index), not P. hians Lindl. 



Rhizome slender, creeping. Secondary stems ascending, 4-5 mm. 

 apart, 5-10 mm. long, very slender, jointed, clothed with tubu- 

 lar sheaths, which are acuminate at the apex. Leaves Hnear- 

 spathulate or narrowly oblanceolate, attenuated at base into 

 a slender petiole; lamina 2.5-4.5 cm. long, 3 mm. wide near 

 the Si^^Q^; petiole ±1 cm. long. Peduncle fihform, 7-15 mm. long, 

 with several scarious, aristate bracts about 2 mm. long. Flowers 

 about four in number, apparently produced in succession, only 

 one at a time being fully expanded. Bracts subtending the 

 slender ^^^2c^/ly, dilated above, obliquely truncate, acute. L,ate?'al 

 sepals free to the base, lanceolate, acute, 1 -nerved, 3 mm. long, 

 1.5 mm. wide. Upper sepal somewhat broader than the laterals, 

 otherwise similar to them. Petals ovate-acute, 2-2.5 mm. long, 

 1.5 mm. wide, conspicuously 1 -nerved, similar to the sepals in 

 outline and texture. Labellum fleshy, narrowly Ungulate, sub- 

 acute, 3 mm. long, 1 mm. wide, margins strongly revolute, sur- 

 face minutely papillose. Column minute, stout, with rounded 

 membranaceous lateral wings or lobes at the summit. 



In general habit Pleurothallis repens resembles the West In- 

 dian P. Sertularioides Spreng, although it is distinct from it in 

 detail. The floral parts are very dissimilar, especially the fleshy 

 undivided papillose labellum. From the slender creeping rhi- 

 zome the secondary stems arise alternately, and lateral branches 

 originate at comparatively long intervals. The younger leaves 

 vary somewhat in outline from the mature ones in being rela- 



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