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Pleurothallis tapantiensis
Icones Costaricensis 1 & 2

Pleurothallis tapantiensis

Pleurothallis tapantiensis Pupulin, M.Díaz & Pridgeon, Vanishing Beauty. Vol. 2: 853. 2020.

Type: Costa Rica. Cartago: Paraíso, Orosi, Tapantí, Tapantí National Park, Oropéndola trail, shores of Río Grande de Orosi, 1376 m. 11 December 2014. D. Bogarín 11273, M. Fernández, L. Taylor & J. Sharma (holotype, JBL; LCDP voucher).

Illustrated specimen: Costa Rica. Puntarenas: Coto Brus, Parque Pittier, June 1995, G. Carnevali s.n. (JBL; LCDP voucher).

Etymology: Named after the Tapantí National Park, in the north-ern region of the Cordillera de Talamanca where the species was originally found. In the indigenous Cabécar language, the word tapantí has several meanings, mostly related to water: “clear water”, “a zone of many waters”, “torrent from the heavens”.

Among the species of Pleurothallis close to P. cardiothallis provided with a peltate lip, P. tapantiensis may be easily recognized by the lip that is glabrous and uniformly purple underneath (vs. papillose, whitish), with the apical margins straight (vs. involute, forming a pseudoapicule), provided for all its length with thin, irregular, transverse grooves…