Content uploaded by William Cetzal Ix
Author content
All content in this area was uploaded by William Cetzal Ix
Content may be subject to copyright.
Accepted by Mark Chase: 28 Sept. 2012; published online in PDF: 5 Oct. 2012 45
PHYTOTAXA
ISSN 1179-3155 (print edition)
ISSN 1179-3163 (online edition)
Copyright © 2012 Magnolia Press
Phytotaxa 68: 45–51 (2012)
www.mapress.com/phytotaxa/
Article
Cryptocentrum beckendorfii (Orchidaceae: Maxillariinae), an extraordinary new
species from Andean Peru
GERMAN CARNEVALI1,4, WILLIAM CETZAL-IX2 & W. MARK WHITTEN3
1Herbarium CICY, Centro de Investigación Científica de Yucatán, A. C. (CICY), Calle 43. No. 130. Col. Chuburná de Hidalgo, Mérida
97200, Yucatán, México; email: carneval@cicy.mx
2El Colegio de la Frontera Sur, Unidad Chetumal, Av. del Centenario, km 5.5, Chetumal, Quintana Roo 77000, México
3Herbarium FLAS, Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, P.O. Box 117800, Gainesville, FL 32611-7800, USA
4Orchid Herbarium of Oakes Ames, Harvard University Herbaria, 22 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA
Abstract
Cryptocentrum beckendorfii is described and illustrated from a single cultivated plant reputedly from the Amazonian
slopes in the Cuzco region of Andean Peru. This species is similar to C. pseudobulbosum, also from the Amazonian
slopes of the Andes, with which it shares sympodial habit with pseudobulbs unlike most species of the genus, which are
monopodial and lack pseudobulbs. It differs from C. pseudobulbosum in its larger pseudobulbs, which are totally naked
upon maturity, thinly coriaceous, conduplicate foliar blades, sheaths enveloping the pseudobulbs lacking foliar blades
and the much longer inflorescences with thin peduncles, among other characters. The putative phylogenetic position of
this species is discussed. An identification key and a map of the species of Cryptocentrum present in Peru are provided.
The conservation category of the species according to IUCN criteria was assessed as data deficient (D).
Key words: Amazonian Andes, Cuzco state, IUCN, Machu Picchu, Neotropical orchids
Introduction
Cryptocentrum Bentham (1881: 325) is one of the most clearly distinct aggregations within subtribe
Maxillariinae. The genus includes 20 species and three subspecies, ranging from Costa Rica through Panama
and from western Colombia to northeastern Bolivia along both sides of the Andes, with two disjunct species
in the Guayana region, one endemic there (Carnevali 1996, 2001, Carnevali et al. 2012). The genus was last
revised in its entirety in 1996 (Carnevali 1996), and several accounts of the genus have appeared in recent
taxonomic and phylogenetic (Carnevali 2001, Blanco et al. 2007, Whitten et al. 2007, Carnevali et al. 2009)
or floristic treatments (Dressler 1993, 2003, Carnevali 1999, 2005).
The spurred flowers of the genus are unique in Maxillariinae. Sixteen of the known species are further
characterized by a phylogenetically derived monopodial habit. Of these, three species (one with three
subspecies) have spiral phyllotaxy, which is unusual among the advanced Epidendroideae. Until recently, only
two species were known with a sympodial, pseudobulbous habit. The recent discovery of this extraordinary
species on the Amazonian slopes of Andean Peru raises this number to three.
The description was prepared using the terminology of Carnevali (1996, 2001) and Carnevali et al.
(2009). Flowers from herbarium specimens were soaked in concentrated ammonium hydroxide for about one
minute and then rinsed in water until soft and ready for study under a dissecting microscope. Thus pretreated,
they were then temporarily preserved in a 70:25:5 ethanol:water:glycerine solution for further study and
eventually returned to their herbarium sheets. Maps for Peruvian Cryptocentrum species were produced by
plotting known locality data extracted from available herbarium specimens and relevant literature (Carnevali
CARNEVALI ET AL.46 • Phytotaxa 68 © 2012 Magnolia Press
2001, Carnevali et al. in prep.). Cartography was produced on a DIVA-GIS base map (Hijmans et al. 2004)
using ArcView 3.2 (ESRI 1999). Both maps and illustrations were later edited with Adobe Photoshop 6.0.1.
(Adobe Systems Inc, San Jose, California). The conservation category of the new species was determined
using the IUCN Red List Criteria (IUCN 2010).
Taxonomy
Cryptocentrum beckendorfii Carnevali, sp. nov. (Figs. 1, 2)
Species haec Cryptocentrum pseudobulbosum similis sed differt planta et floribus majoribus, pseudobulbis
suborbicularibus vel late ellipsoideis vel late ovatis, dorsoventraliter paulo depressis, vaginis escariosis elaminatis
obtectis, foliis planis non trigonis nec teretibus; inflorescentia proportione multo longiore, calcare latiore
proportione multo breviore vaginis floralis incluso recedit.
Type:––PERU. Cultivated material; originally in the collection of FL Stevenson, later cultivated by Steven Beckendorf;
reportedly collected in Peru in the vicinity of Machu Picchu, Beckendorf s.n. (holotype USM!, isotypes, CICY!,
FLAS!).
Lithophytic and presumably also epiphytic herbs, 5–10 cm tall, sympodial, densely caespitose; rhizomes
abbreviate. Pseudobulbs 5–12(–15) mm tall and wide, variable in shape even within the same plant, ranging
from subspherical to subconical, broadly ellipsoid or broadly ovoid, slightly depressed dorsoventrally,
apically 1-leaved, when young clothed by several dark castaneous sheaths, which are longer than the
pseudobulb and enclose the pseudopetiole of the leaf, the sheaths lacking a blade, eventually becoming
scarious and disintegrating into grayish fibers; the pseudobulb surface green, smooth when young, somewhat
wrinkled when old. Leaves 4.0–9.0 × 0.25–0.35 cm, linear-elliptic, acute, straight to slightly recurved in
natural position, conduplicate, thinly coriaceous. Inflorescences borne singly or in pairs at the base of the
newer pseudobulbs, 1-flowered, 4–6 cm long, erect or ascending, peduncle pale green, filiform, 0.6–1.0 mm
thick, composed of 4 internodes, the first (basal) 8–12 mm long, the second 15–20 mm long, the third and
fourth 12–18; the peduncular bracts about half the length of internodes, tubulose to somewhat inflated in the
apical half, open in the apical 1/3–1/4; uppermost non-floral bract 9–15 × 2–3 mm when spread, elliptic or
elliptic-oblanceolate; floral bract 9–12 × 5–7 mm when spread, somewhat inflated, open only at the apical 1/
5–1/6, oblanceolate, obtuse, dorsally very obscurely keeled at the apex, enclosing the lower 4/5 of the
pedicellate ovary as well as the spur. Flowers resupinate, patent or suberect, with widely spreading sepals,
yellow-green to greenish brown; pedicellate ovary 9.5–11.0 × 0.9–1.1 mm, longer than the spur, subterete,
smooth. Sepals fleshy, 5-nerved, subapically mucronulate to conspicuously mucronate, margins revolute,
more so on the lateral sepals, the three sepals fused basally into a tube 2.5–4.0 × 1.8–2.0 mm, cylindrical to
broadly cylindrical-obconic, laterally flattened; dorsal sepal 11.5–12.5 × 3.0–3.3 mm, the free portion elliptic,
obtuse, apiculate, erect on the tube and connivent with the laterals for 2.5 mm; lateral sepals 12.0–13.0 ×
3.0–3.5 mm, elliptic, erect on the tube and connivent with each other and the dorsal for 3.5–4.0 mm, the free
portion 8.0–8.5 mm long. Petals 8.5–9.5 × 2.0–2.1 mm, subfleshy, 3-nerved, elliptic, obtuse to broadly acute,
the apical cushion 2.1 mm long, the concave basal section included in the sepaline cup, the apical half of the
petal spreading from the tube opening. Labellum 9.5–10.5 × 3.0–3.5 mm when forcefully expanded
(excluding the spur), 3-nerved, subsigmoid in profile, lanceolate in outline upon flattening, vaguely divided
into a 8.5–9.0 mm long, 2.5–3.0 mm deep hypochile and an 1.0–1.5 mm long epichile, 1.5–2.0 mm wide at
base, triangular to triangular-oblong, obtuse, the adaxial surface covered with straight hairs 0.5–0.7 mm long;
spur 9.0–9.5 × 1.0 mm, cylindrical, acute, somewhat thicker just after the middle. Column 3.0–3.5 × 2.5 mm,
straight, flanked by dolabriform wings ca. 1 mm long for about half of its length; rostellum emarginate; anther
1.2 × 0.8 mm; pollinia 4, the longer pair ellipsoid, 0.5–0.6 mm long, the shorter pair ovoid, 0.5 mm long. Fruit
unknown.
Phytotaxa 68 © 2012 Magnolia Press • 47
CRYPTOCENTRUM BECKENDORFII SP. NOV.
FIGURE 1. Cryptocentrum beckendorfii. A. Habit with inflorescences. B. Flower, front view. C. Sepals, petals, and labellum. D.
Flower, lateral view. E. Flower, lateral view, with floral bract removed to show spur and pedicellate ovary. F. Column and labellum,
lateral view. G. Column, lateral view. H. Apex of column with anther removed, lateral view. I. Pollinia. Based on Beckendorf s.n.
(USM, CICY, FLAS). Drawn by Sarah Adler.
CARNEVALI ET AL.48 • Phytotaxa 68 © 2012 Magnolia Press
FIGURE 2. Cryptocentrum beckendorfii. A. Habit with inflorescences. B. Flower, front view. C. Flower, lateral view. Photos by S.
Beckendorf.
Phytotaxa 68 © 2012 Magnolia Press • 49
CRYPTOCENTRUM BECKENDORFII SP. NOV.
Distribution and ecology:––Cryptocentrum beckendorfii is known only from a single cultivated plant.
This plant purportedly originated from near Machu Picchu (Cusco region, Urubamba, Peru). Since the species
is known from a single collection with little additional information, little can be said about its ecology and
distribution.
Eponymy:—Named after Steven Beckendorf, Professor Emeritus of Genetics, Genomics, and
Development, University of California, Berkeley, who cultivated the plant for decades until it flowered
recently. Beckendorf grows it in a cool-intermediate greenhouse mounted on a cork slab.
Beckendorf originally obtained this plant as an unidentified Maxillaria Ruiz López & Pavón (1794: 116, t
24) from the collection of FL (Steve) Stevenson, who had a large orchid collection, consisting mainly of
species, in Chamblee, Georgia, USA. Stevenson was an orchid horticulturalist and a past president of the
American Orchid Society who died in 1994. In the decades between 1960 and 1980, he traveled extensively in
Central and South America with several orchid biologists, including Calaway H. Dodson and Robert L.
Dressler. He collected many orchids on these trips (prior to the advent of CITES) and cultivated thousands of
orchids in his greenhouses; many orchid species were described by Carl L. Luer and Dodson from specimens
cultivated in Stevenson’s greenhouses. After his death, his orchid collection was dispersed among orchid
growers, and it is probable that additional undescribed species might still exist among his collections.
Notes:––Among species of Cryptocentrum, C. beckendorfii can readily be recognized by its relatively
large, suborbicular to broadly ellipsoid or broadly ovoid pseudobulbs, which are totally naked upon maturity.
However, when young, they are enveloped in tightly appressed, brown papery sheaths that are eventually
scarious and disintegrate into grayish fibers. These sheaths, coupled with pseudobulb shape and narrow
leaves, which are more or less petiolate, lend the plant a superficial similarity to the unrelated genus
Teuscheria Garay (1958: 820), which is easily differentiated, among other features, by plicate leaves. It is
further distinguished from other Cryptocentrum species by the thinly textured, linear conduplicate leaves.
Flowers of C. beckendorfii resemble those of C. pseudobulbosum Schweinfurth (1946: 186) but are larger
(dorsal sepal 11.5–12.5 vs. 7.0–7.5 mm long, respectively) and held on a longer, thinner peduncle [40–60 vs.
(15–)30–45 mm long, respectively].
Because of the pseudobulbous, sympodial habit we would hypothesize this species to be related to
Cryptocentrum pseudobulbosum of subgenus Pseudobulbosa Carnevali (2001: 470) or to C. roseans
(Schlechter 1920: 183) Hawkes (1953: 379) of subgenus Anthosiphon (Schlechter 1920: 183) Carnevali (in
Blanco et al. 2007: 523). The thin conduplicate leaves of this species suggest a relationship with C. roseans,
whereas the overall floral structure and biogeography support a closer relationship with C. pseudobulbosum.
The status of these two subgenera needs to be assessed in light of the novel combination of characters present
in C. beckendorfii. A combined evidence phylogenetic analysis of Cryptocentrum is currently underway to
test these hypotheses (Carnevali et al. in prep.).
It might be hypothesized that the intermediate features of this plant could be explained if it is a
horticultural hybrid between Cryptocentrum and Maxillaria. We sequenced both nrITS and plastid DNA
regions from this plant (Carnevali et al., in prep.); the nuclear region produced clean sequences with no
evidence of polymorphism expected in a first generation hybrid whereas preliminary phylogenetic analysis of
plastid and nrITS failed to yield any topological incongruence sometimes obtained in hybrids.
IUCN conservation category:––DD. This taxon is only known from the type specimen, thus according
to the IUCN (2010) it should be listed as DD (data deficient). The publication of this extraordinary new
species will hopefully prompt searches for additional plants of Cryptocentrum beckendorfii, after which it will
be possible to better assess the rarity and conservations status of the species.
Cryptocentrum in Peru:––With this new addition, there are now four species (one with two subspecies)
of Cryptocentrum known from Peru. All of them occur on the Amazonian slopes of the Andes at elevations of
750–2000 m in montane rain to cloud forest. Three of the four subgenera recognized by Carnevali et al.
(2009) occur in the country. Cryptocentrum pseudobulbosum is the sole representative of subgenus
Pseudobulbosa, C. inaequisepalum Schweinfurth (1946: 186) represents subgenus Cryptocentrum whereas C.
peruvianum (Cogniaux, 1903: 331) Schweinfurth (1946:188) is referred to subgenus Caulescentes Senghas
CARNEVALI ET AL.50 • Phytotaxa 68 © 2012 Magnolia Press
(1994: 1798). Cryptocentrum beckendorfii cannot as yet be assigned to any of the described subgenera. Below
we provide a key to the genus in Peru.
FIGURE 3. Distribution of Peruvian species of Cryptocentrum. Outlines of biogeographic provinces from Morrone (2001).
Key to the species of Cryptocentrum from Peru
1. Pseudobulbs present, plants with sympodial habit.......................................................................................................2
– Pseudobulbs absent, plants with monopodial habit......................................................................................................3
2. Pseudobulbs ellipsoid, totally or partially hidden by the sheaths, these with foliar blades; leaves 15–37 mm long,
hemicylindric or subtriquetrous; inflorescences thickly peduncled, (15–)30–45 mm long; internodes of the inflores-
cence subequal in length to the subtending bracts; floral bract 11–12 mm long ........................... C. pseudobulbosum
– Pseudobulbs subspherical to subconical, broadly ellipsoid or broadly ovoid, when young clothed by several dark
castaneous sheaths without blades that disintegrate into grayish fibers with age, totally naked when old; leaves
40–90 mm long, conduplicate, thinly coriaceous; inflorescences thinly peduncled, 40–60 mm long, internodes of the
inflorescence twice as long as the subtending bracts............................................................................. C. beckendorfii
3. Leaves distichous; blades (3–)7–20(–30) cm long, conduplicate, coriaceous; inflorescences (2–)3–10 cm long; floral
bract totally enclosing the spur; spur (16–)18–28(–32) mm long.....................................................C. inaequisepalum
– Leaves spiral; blades (1.0–)1.2–1.8(–2.5) cm long, hemicylindric to subtriquetrous; inflorescences 0.4–0.7 cm long;
floral bract enclosing only 1/10 to 1/2 of the spur; spur (4.0–)4.5–7.0(–11.0) mm long .............................................4
4. Petals 7.5–10.0 mm long, ca. 2 mm wide, 3-nerved; spur 9–11 mm long; plants from elevations usually above 1500 m
.....................................................................C. peruvianum ssp. minus (Schlechter 1912: 389) Carnevali (2001: 482)
– Petals 3.5–6.0 mm long, <1.5 mm wide, 1-nerved or very faintly 3-nerved; spur 4.5–7.0(–8.0) mm long; plants from
elevations usually below 1500 m....................................................................................................................................
...................................................... C. peruvianum ssp. peruvianum (Cogniaux 1906: 331) Schweinfurth (1946: 188)
Phytotaxa 68 © 2012 Magnolia Press • 51
CRYPTOCENTRUM BECKENDORFII SP. NOV.
Acknowledgements
Rodrigo Duno de Stefano, Carlos L. Leopardi, Ivón M. Ramírez (CICY), and Gustavo A. Romero-González
(AMES) commented on earlier drafts of this article. The second author is grateful to CONACyT for a
scholarship (number 162579) for doctoral studies. Sarah Adler of the California Academy of Sciences
illustrated this new species. Mario Blanco (University of Costa Rica) first drew our attention to this
extraordinary plant for which we are deeply indebted. Mario Blanco and Mark W. Chase provided thorough
reviews that greatly improved the quality of the manuscript. José Luis Tapia Muñoz (CICY) collaborated with
a bibliography search.
References
Bentham, G. (1881) Notes on Orchideae. Journal of the Linnean Society, Botany 18: 281–360.
Blanco, M.A., Carnevali, G., Whitten, W.M., Singer, R.B., Koehler, S., Williams, N.H., Ojeda, I., Neubig, K.M. & Endara, L. (2007).
Generic realignments in Maxillariinae (Orchidaceae). Lankesteriana 7: 515–537.
Carnevali, G. (1996) Systematics, phylogeny, and twig epiphytism in Cryptocentrum (Orchidaceae). Ph.D. dissertation. University of
Missouri-Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, 334 pp.
Carnevali, G. (1999) Cryptocentrum. In: Atwood, J.T. & Mora de Retana, D.E. (eds) Flora Costaricensis: Orchidaceae. Fieldiana,
Botany (new series) 40: 27−32.
Carnevali, G. (2001) A synoptical view of the classification of Cryptocentrum (Orchidaceae), new taxa, and a key to the genus.
Harvard Papers in Botany 5: 467–486.
Carnevali, G. (2005) Cryptocentrum Benth. In: Pupúlin, F. (ed.) Vanishing beauty: native Costa Rican orchids I. University of Costa
Rica Press, San José, pp. 167–171.
Carnevali, G., Ortiz V.P. & Peraza-Flores, L.N. (2012) The "lady in white", a showy new species of Cryptocentrum (Orchidaceae,
Maxillariinae) from Colombia. Phytotaxa 56: 1–8.
Carnevali, G., Ramírez, I.M., Blanco, M.A., Veitch, N.C. & Grayer, R.J. (2009) Cryptocentrum Hook. In: Pridgeon, A.M., Cribb, P.J.,
Chase, M.W. & Rasmussen F.N. (eds.) Genera orchidacearum 5: Epidendroideae (part two). Oxford University Press, Oxford,
pp. 138–143.
Cogniaux, R. (1906) Notes sur les Orchidées du Brésil et des régions voisins. Bulletin de la Société Royale de Botanique de Belgique
43: 266–356.
Dressler, R. (1993) Field guide to the orchids of Costa Rica and Panama. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, 374 pp.
Dressler, R. (2003) Orchidaceae. In: Hammel, B.E., Grayum, M.H., Herrera, C. & Zamora, N. (eds.) Manual de plantas de Costa Rica
3, Monocotiledóneas (Orchidaceae–Zingiberaceae). Monographs in Systematic Botany from the Missouri Botanical Garden 93,
pp. 1–595.
ESRI (1999) ArcView GIS 3.2. Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc., New York.
Garay, L.A. (1958) A new orchid genus from the Ecuadorian Andes. American Orchid Society Bulletin 27: 820–823.
Hawkes, A.D. (1953) A new section of Cryptocentrum Benth. Orchid Journal 2: 379.
Hijmans, R.J., Guarino, L., Bussink, C., Mathur, P., Cruz, M., Barrentes, I. & Rojas E. (2004) DIVA-GIS, version. 5.0. A geographic
information system for the analysis of species distribution data. Freely available at <http://www.diva-gis.org.>
IUCN (2010) Guidelines for using the IUCN Red List categories and criteria. Version 8.1. Prepared by the Standards and Petitions
Subcommittee in March 2010. Downloadable from http://intranet.iucn.org/webfiles/doc/SSC/RedList/RedListGuidelines.pdf
(accessed at 20 September 2012).
Morrone, J.J. (2001) Biogeografía de América Latina y el Caribe. M&T-Manuales & Tesis SEA, vol. 3, Zaragoza, 148 pp.
Ruiz López, H. & Pavón, J. (1794) Flora Peruvianae et Chilensis prodromus. Imprenta de Sancha, Madrid, 153 pp., 37 pl.
Schlechter, R. (1912) LXIX. Orchidaceae novae et criticae. Decas XIX–XX. Repertorium Specierum Novarum Regni Vegetabilis 10:
385–396.
Schlechter, R. (1920) Die Orchideenfloren der südamerikanischen Kordillerenstaaten II. Colombia. Repertorium Specierum Novarum
Regni Vegetabilis Beihefte 7: 1–301.
Schweinfurth, C. (1946) Orchidaceae Peruvianae VI. Botanical Museum Leaflets 12: 185–223.
Senghas, K. (1994) Subtribus Maxillariinae. In: Brieger, F.G., Maatsch, R. & Senghas, K. (eds.) Rudolf Schlechter’s Die Orchideen,
Band I/B. Paul Parey, Berlin, pp. 1727–1803.
Whitten, W.M., Blanco, M.A., Williams, N.H., Koehler, S., Carnevali, G., Singer, R.B., Endara, L. & Neubig, K.M. (2007) Molecular
phylogenetics of Maxillaria and related genera (Orchidaceae: Cymbidieae) based on combined molecular data sets. American
Journal of Botany 94: 1869–1889.
