What is it about?
Physosiphon is basically a Mesoamerican group, and its best-known species is Stelis emarginata, characterized by its reddish orange flowers and distribution along the Gulf of Mexico slope in Mexico and Guatemala. Morphologically similar specimens from the Sierra Madre del Sur, on the Pacific slope of Guerrero and Oaxaca could represent a different and undescribed taxon. Are the Sierra Madre del Sur populations similar to Stelis emarginata a different species?
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Why is it important?
Stelis breviloba is described and illustrated as a new species from southern Guerrero and Oaxaca. It differers from Stelis emarginata by its shorter plants, less floriferous racemes, smaller flowers, oblong petals, and its allopatric distribution, restricted to the Pacific slope of the Sierra Madre del Sur. A key for the identification of the Mesoamerican species of Stelis subgen. Physosiphon is provided.
Perspectives
Stelis breviloba is an endemic of the Sierra Madre del Sur and probable vicariant species of S. emarginata. Most species of Stelis subgen. Physosiphon (six out of eight) are present in the Mexican flora
Rodolfo Solano
Instituto Politecnico Nacional
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This page is a summary of: Stelis breviloba (Orchidaceae, Pleurothallidinae), a new species from Mexico, Botanical Sciences, June 2023, Botanical Scicences, Sociedad Botanica de Mexico, AC,
DOI: 10.17129/botsci.3307.
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