TROPICAL AMERICAN ORCHIDS 
Lepanthes exasperata & S. sp. nov. Herba nana, 
caespitosa. Radicesfibratae,numerosae. Caulesunifoliati, fili- 
formes, plurivaginati. Folium anguste lanceolatum, in vivo 
valde carnosum, margine revoluto, apice tridentato. Inflo- 
rescentiae breves. Flores membranacei. Sepala margine et 
nervis dorso minute ciliolata. Sepala lateralia obliquissime 
ovata. Sepalum dorsale majus, ovato-oblongum. Petala 
inverse reniformia, lobis ovatis, subaequalibus. Labellum 
trilobatum. 
Plant dwarf, caespitose, 4.5-5.4 cm. tall. Roots nu¬ 
merous, fibrous, flexuous, filiform, finely pubescent. Stems 
filiform, monophyllous, about 1-2.5 cm. long, 3-5-jointed, 
entirely concealed by tightly clasping tubular sheaths. 
Sheaths longitudinally nerved and pubescent on the angles, 
abruptly dilated into an ovate aristate nervose lamina which 
is ciliate on the margin. Leaf erect or erect-spreading, nar¬ 
rowly lanceolate, very fleshy with revolute margins (in ma¬ 
terial preserved in formalin), 2.15-2.7 cm. long, 4.6-5.6 
mm. wide below the middle, long-narrowed above to a broad 
tridentate apex, rounded or cuneate below to a short- 
petioled base which is tightly enclosed by the uppermost 
sheath of the stem, the longitudinal centre of the blade 
deeply sulcate on the upper surface and bluntly carinate be¬ 
neath. Inflorescences one to three with apparently only one 
fertile raceme at a time, very short, about 5-9.5 mm. long, 
rarely up to 9-flowered. Flowers approximate, distichous, on 
the upper part of the peduncle, minute, apparently membra¬ 
naceous. Sepals cellular-ciliolate on the margins and on the 
nerves of the outer surface. Lateral sepals connate to the 
middle, broadly and very obliquely ovate, 2 mm. long, 1.6 
mm. wide at the base of the free portion, acute, 2-nerved, the 
lobes porrect with the outer margins prominently ciliolate 
and the inner margins very obscurely so. Dorsal sepal 
larger, oblong-ovate, 3 mm. long, about 1.65 mm. wide, acute, 
3-nerved. Petals inversely reniform, bilobed, with the lobes 
set at an obtuse angle, about 2.2 mm. wide from tip to tip, 
entire margin densely and finely long cellular-fimbriate; pos¬ 
terior and anterior lobes subequal, ovate, obtuse. Labellum 
3-lobed; lateral lobes broadly dolabriform, about 1.7 mm. 
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