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Pleurothallis fantastica
Icones Costaricensis 1 & 2

Pleurothallis fantastica

Pleurothallis fantastica Ames, Bot. Mus. Leafl. 4: 41. 1936.

Type: Costa Rica: San José: vicinity of El General, epiphyte on trees by a river, 830 m, Jan.1936, A.F. Skutch 2391 (holotype, AMES; isotype, AMES).

Illustrated specimen: Costa Rica. Puntarenas: Coto Brus, San Vito, Estación Biológica Las Cruces, Reserva Biológica, Río Java, Sendero Ridge, 1340 m. 6 Oct 2018. M. Blanco 5087, N. Jiménez, O. Alvarado, M. Cedeño, K. Gil & M.J. Mata (JBL-spirit; LCDP voucher).

Etymology: From the Latin fantasticus, “imaginary”, but also “wonderful, marvelous”, in allusion to the odd flowers in this species.

The long, narrow, pendent leaves, born on a distally ancipitous ramicaul, which are cuneate (not cordate) at the base, and the flower with a distinctly three-lobed lip, the lateral lobes broad, elliptic, spread out, and the midlobe small, excised, easily distinguish Pleurothallis fantastica both vegetatively and florally from any other species in the genus.