Mormodes carnevaliana Salazar et G. Romero, sp. nov. TYPE

lindkyana 9(4): 255-263.
Mormodes carnevaliana Salazar et G. Romero,
sp. nov. TYPE: VENEZUELA. Bolfvar: Uaipantepui , pl ateau at southern foot of the peaks of
Uaipan, large exposed sandstone shield, 1200 m
alt., in dry rocky savannah, flowers yellow, March
I, 1967. T. Koyama and G. Agostini 7381 (Halotype: NY). Fig. I.
A M. amazonicae Brade similis, sed floribu s
minoribus, Iabella sellaeforme, ubi ex planato transverse elliptico vel suborbiculari , minute papilloso,
integro et emarginato vel prope apicem obscure
trilobo, lobo medi ano truncato vel rotundato, inter
!obis lateralibus producto.
Herb epiphytic or lithophytic. Roots terete,
flexuous , whiti sh, 2-4 mm diam. Peudobulbs cylindric-fusiform, several-(ca. 8-12) noded, 4-12 em
long, 1-2.5 em diam. , partially covered by leaf
sheaths; leaf sheaths gray ish-white to yellowishwhite, papery, somewhat translucent, shiny , the
apex prov ided with small spines 0.5-1 .5 mm long.
Leaf blades several, di stichous, plicate, articulate
at the apices of the leaf sheaths, deciduous, absent
'The authors wi sh to thank the curators of HB, NY and YEN
fo r the loan of spec imens, J. B. da Sil va for providing Brazilian
material of M. cameva/iana and B. Manara for hi s draw ing of M.
cucumerina.
or occasionally 1-3 of them present, though apparently withering, at flowering time, narrowly elliptic, attenuate, with 3-5 main veins somewhat raised
on the underside, ca. 23-31 em long, 2-4 em wide;
base channeled. Inflorescence 1-2 per pseudobulb,
arising laterally fro m near the base to near the
middle of the mature pseudobulb, racemose, ascending, I0-24 em long, with ca. 8-25 simultaneous flowers ; peduncle terete, about as long as
the rachi s, with ca. 4 clasping, imbri cating bracts
at the base and often two more spaced bracts above,
these obtuse, scarious, lightly translucent, brownish-white, 5-8 mm long; raceme moderately dense,
rachis more slender than the peduncle, li ghtl y fl exuous. Floral bracts spreading, shallow ly concave,
ovate, obtuse-rounded, scarious, margins somewhat
hyaline, 3-7.5 mm long. Flowers perfect, apparently protandrous and apparentl y ex hibiting incipient sexual dimorphism, variable in size and fl eshi ness, resupinate; coloration also variabl e, either
yellow , rose-orange, rose-purple or deep purple;
all the floral segments and the column with sparse
crystalline idioblasts, which are more abundant near
the margins of sepals and peta ls. Ovary pedicel. late, twi sted, 6-sulcate, li ghtl y arcuate, gradually
tapering toward the base, 15-26 mm long, 1.5-3
mm diam . near the apex . Dorsal sepal arcuate,
elliptic-l anceolate, acute, sometimes li ghtly oblique,
with five main veins and several secondary and
transverse veins, 18-23 mm long, 5-6.8 mm wide.
Lateral sepals spreadin g to reflexed, li ghtl y
incurved, obliquely elliptic-l anceolate, acute, keeled
255
SALAZAR AND ROMERO -
NEW MORMODES FROM THE VENEZUELAN GUA Y ANA
dorsally near the minutely ari state apex, venation
like that of the dorsal sepal, 17-23 mm long, 5-9
mm wide. Petals obliquely elliptic, acute, lightly
conduplicate near the apex , lateral margins lightly
recurved, with 7 main nerves, several subsidiary
nerves and a few transverse branches, 16.7-22 mm
lon g, 6.3-1 1.2 mm wide. Lip convex, saddle shaped , minutely papillose especially near the
margin s, tran sve rsely elliptic to suborbicular,
cl awed, apiculate, shallowly three-lobed at the apical
margin or entire and then shallowly emarginate,
tleshy, the apex somewhat incurved, with a rounded,
very ev ident fovea , 14-20 mm long (including the
ca. 4 mm long claw and the 1-1 .2 mm long triangular, deflexed apicule), 13.5-24.5 mm wide; lateral lobes rounded, separated from the midlobe by
very shallow sinuses; midlobe broadly rounded to
truncate, protruding lightly betwee n the lateral
lobes. Column subtrigonous, either incurved and
twi sted to one side ca. 90° (male phase) or straight
and spreading (apparent female phase), acuminate,
minutely papillose dorsally especially above the
middle, 12-14.5 mm long, 3.5-4 mm wide at the
level of the rostellum; clinandrium triangul ar, somewhat concave, 5-6.5 mm long; antenna laminar,
glabrous, elliptic-lanceolate, 1.5-2 mm long; column foot ca. 2-2.5 mm long and wide. Anther
subovoid, rostrate, imperfectly two-celled, ca. 5 mm
long , 3.5 mm wide. Pollinarium formed by 2 ellipsoid, sulcate, yellow pollinia attached through
minute caudicles to a fleshy , oblong, channeled
stipe with massive vi scidium. Stigma obliquely
oblong, with the basal margin lightly rai sed, 3.58 mm long, 3-4 mm wide. Capsule not see n.
ETYMOLOGY: We take the pleasure of naming thi s spec ies in honor of German Carnevali,
outstanding Venezuelan orchidologist currently
engaged in the study of the orchids of the Venezuelan Guyana.
ADDITIONAL SPECIMENS EXAMINED:
BRAZIL. Roraima: Serra Pacaraima, Brazil-Venezuela border, margin of Igarape do Avila (south
of Vila Pacaraima airport), on dead tree, flowers
rose-purpl e, November 1991 , J.B.F. da Sil va s.n.
(AMO). VENEZUELA: Bolfvar: banks of Rfo
Can a rac uni , tt·ibut:JS';{ c.f the Mctc'l"nt\ ,
~\\o
Caur·a,
Guayana, January 1942, F. Cardona 410 (YEN);
slopes of Cerro Acopan, 1000 m, flowers yellow.
October 1947, F. Cardona 221 8 (NY); Cerro
Acopan, 1600 m, flowers purple, October 1947, F.
Cardona 23 18 (YEN); Cerro Acopan , 1200 m, on
tree trunks, October 1947, F. Cardona 2336 (YEN);
banks of Rfo Sotebe, 420 m, F. Cardona 2159,
(YEN); Rfo Paragua, October 1966, F. Racenis
s.n. (YEN); Distrito Cedeno, Los Pijiguaos. flowered 27 December 1987, G.A. Romero 1443 (VE ).
OTHER RECORDS: VENEZUELA. Amazonas:
Pacaraima Range, near survey camp Frontera 15.
G. Patchenco s.n . (description and illustration
published in Dunsterville and Garay 1976, as M.
amazonica Brade); Caiio Iguana, A. B. Lou s. 11.
(photos, AMO).
Mormodes carnevaliana is widespread in the
Venezuelan Guyana and extends into Roraima state
in northern Brazil. It is found on trees and rocks
in forest and savannah , from about 250 to 1600 m
altitude. Flowering from October to March.
This species shows noticeable variation in the
degree of lobation of the lip and, to a lesser extent.
the size of the floral parts (Fig. I). The extreme
form s look so different that they were originally
believed to represent two different species, but a
comparison of samples from different parts of the
range of the entity in question showed a continuum
of variation. In our specimen from Roraima. Brazil, the flowers of which were comparatively large
and very fleshy , all the flowers show spreading.
basally broader columns and may represent functionally pistillate (female) flowers.
M o rmodes camevaliana is similar to M.
ama zonica Brade but can be di stingui shed from
that species by the smaller flowers and the entire or obscurely three-lobed , minutely papillose
lip, which is saddle- shaped but not strongly reduplicate. The lip in the drawing of Dunstervill e
(Dunsterville and Garay , 1976: 279) appears to
be markedly three-lobed, but the apparent lobation , according to the description accompanying
it, is much an artifact produced in trying to
spread flatly a three-dimensionally complex
structure. One specimen assigned here to M.
ca rnevaliana (Cardona 2318) was cited by Pabst
( 1968, p. 136) as M. tibicen Rchb .f. , but that
Andean species is eas il y se parated by it s larger
flowers and entire, densely pilose lip. Mor111odes
vernixia Rchb .f. , originally desc ribed from
" R oraimu , Guyana," differs in the dark , a\mws,l
blacki sh, shining flowers whose lip bears a rather
prominent , trapezo id apical lobe. Materi al assigned here to M. carnevaliana was considered
by Foldats ( 1970) as M. buccinator Lind!. , but
as we interpret that spec ies it is known only
258
SALAZAR AND ROMERO- NEW MORMODES FROM THE VENEZUELAN GUA'lANA
fro m the Coa s tal Cordillera in northern Venez uela and differs in the usually larger flowers
with a proportionately muc h broader, glabrous
lip .
259