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Pleurothallis navisepala
Icones Costaricensis 1 & 2

Pleurothallis navisepala

Pleurothallis navisepala Pupulin, J.Aguilar & M.Díaz, Lankesteriana 17(2): 344. 2017.

Type: Costa Rica. Alajuela: San Ramón, Ángeles, Balsa, road between San Ramón and La Fortuna de San Carlos, 1150 m. 29 May 2013. F. Pupulin 8435, D. Bogarín, M. Díaz, & M. Fernández (holotype, JBL-spirit; LCDP voucher).

Etymology: From the Latin navis, “ship”, and sepala, “sepals”, in reference to the boat-shaped synsepal.

Pleurothallis navisepala is similar in habit to medium sized specimens of P. cardiothallis, but the flowers easily allow distinction between the two species. The former frequently produces two to four flowers at once, bearing comparatively small flowers that do not spread out completely, provided with a deeply concave-navicular synsepal and porrect petals, while in the latter the flowers are produced singly, very rarely in pairs; they are large flowers for the genus, with the margins of the sepals and the petals reflexed at maturity. The size of the peltate lip is very similar between the two species, so that the ratio lip:synsepal is notably greater in P. navisepala, the lip occupying most of the concave synsepal.