The New Refugium Botanicum. Guarianthe skinneri

Abstract

Guarianthe skinneri (Bateman) Dressler & W.E.Higgins, Lankesteriana 7:38 (2003). Basionym: Cattleya skinneri Bateman, Orchid. Mex. Guat. 1839. Type: Habitat in Guatemala, G. Skinner s.n. (holotype, K). Epiphytic, caespitose, pseudobulbous, large herbs to 50 cm tall. Rhizome stout, ca. 1.0–1.5 cm in diameter, covered by brown, papyraceous sheaths. Roots produced from the rhizome at the base of the pseudobulbs, thick, about 3 mm in diameter. Pseudobulbous stems incrassated, fusiform, jointed, somewhat compressed, to 40 cm long, bifoliate, covered by glumaceous sheaths becoming white–hyaline with age and eventually dissolving. Leaves fleshy-coriaceous, elliptic to oblong, obtuse to rounded, frequently emarginated, 10–18 × 3–7 cm. Inflorescence a short, few- to several-flowered (4–12 flowers), dense raceme, issuing from a large, glumaceous, spathaceous bract becoming dry-papyraceous, brown with age.